Tourists had to be evacuated by helicopter from one of Canada’s major Arctic parks as abnormal temperatures caused severe flooding, washing away hiking trails and a bridge.

“We lost huge proportions of what was formerly the trail in the park. It’s disappeared -  gone,” said Pauline Scott, speaking for Parks Canada.

The Auyuittuq National Park is located on the northern arctic Baffin Island and covers over 19 thousand square kilometers. The Park is home to the huge Penny Ice Cap.

The abnormal seasonal temperatures that are double the normal summer temperatures of recent years have caused a dramatic melting of the permafrost, flooding and erosion.

Recently giant ice sheets of more than 20 square kilometers have broken off the Canadian ice shelf and scientists say that more may follow during this warm Arctic summer.

Spokeswoman Scott said that the increased normal average temperature on Baffin Island has caused a massive melting that sent “a huge pulse of water through the park.”

The temperatures of the Arctic region have risen much faster than the global average in the last two decades, a problem scientist’s blame on global greenhouse emissions.

“We’re not as worried about the flash flooding as we are about the instability of the ground and the slumping and the cracks appearing all along that entire 60 kilometer trail,” said Scott.

There could be more severe problems ahead for the Canadian Arctic Park.

“We have had lots of hard rain in the south part of Baffin Island in the last few days so we don’t know what this is going to do to further destabilize the permafrost,” said Scott.

The changing nature of the water table on Baffin Island forced the nearest town of Pangnirtung to declare a state of emergency in June when flash flooding severed the town’s water supply and sewage system.

The town of Pang, as it is commonly called, is the home to one Canada’s largest and most prolific Inuit art communities. The artistic works produced in Pang are highly prized by international art collectors and museums.

The arctic melt and flood left the 12 hundred people of Pang without a safe water supply for three weeks.