This Norwegian village is one of the fastest-warming places on Earth. How can its people save it?
The remote Norwegian village of Longyearbyen in Svalbard is experiencing rapid warming, with temperatures rising up to seven times faster than the global average. Melting glaciers, thawing permafrost, and changing precipitation are threatening local infrastructure and water supplies.
Why it matters
It serves as an early indicator and stark warning of how accelerated climate change directly threatens Arctic communities and ecosystems.
Longyearbyen on Svalbard’s Spitsbergen island, where glaciers cover most of the land but temperatures are rising up to seven times faster than the global average. Longyearbyen on Svalbard’s Spitsbergen island, where glaciers cover most of the land but temperatures are rising up to seven times faster than the global average. Seascape: the state of our oceans Glaciers This Norwegian village is one of the fastest-warming places on Earth. How can its people save it? As glaciers melt and permafrost thaws, Longyearbyen, on the remote Arctic islands of Svalbard, faces climate-induced problems from tap water to housebuilding to landslides
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