The world’s northernmost airport says its runway is starting to melt due to climate change
Svalbard’s airport is working hard to reduce the effects of climate change as its runway has started to melt

The world’s northernmost airport says its runway is starting to melt due to climate change
Svalbard’s airport is working hard to reduce the effects of climate change as its runway has started to melt
Space Norway and SubCom have revealed that a contract is now in force for the #Arctic Way Cable System – a subsea infrastructure project that will link the Norwegian mainland with Jan Mayen and the #Svalbard archipelago.
https://www.capacitymedia.com/article-subcom-contract-for-worlds-northernmost-subsea-cable-system
It’s the world’s northernmost airport. And its runway is melting
When Longyearbyen’s 2,300-meter-long runway was built in the early 1970s, no one expected the permafrost layer it was constructed on to start melting. But that is exactly what’s happening now.
#Longyearbyen #Svalbard #Norway #airport #airline #travel #transportation #climatechange #permafrost
https://www.cnn.com/travel/svalbard-airport-norway-northermost-melting/index.html
Record warm summer in #Svalbard
For the third consecutive summer, the average temperature in Svalbard reached a new record high, at 2.6°C above average, well above 2023’s record of 1.7°C. At #SvalbardAirport, a location where temperature measurements extend back to 1899, the summer was also the warmest on record, at 2.9°C above average, significantly warmer than in 2023 (2.2°C). As in 2022 and 2023, the region’s warm summer coincided with well above-average sea surface temperatures over the #BarentsSea In recent decades, this region has been one of the fastest-warming places on Earth.
2024 European State of the Climate (ESOTC) report
Key messages:
a)
#Europe experienced its warmest year, with the second highest number of heat stress days and tropical nights, on record.
b)
The area of Europe experiencing days with temperatures below freezing is decreasing, with the year seeing the largest area on record with fewer than three months (90 days) of frost days. The number of ‘cold stress days’ was the lowest on record.
c)
For the European region and for the Mediterranean Sea, the annual sea surface temperature was the highest on record. It was also the warmest year on record for European lakes.
d)
#Glaciers in #Scandinavia and #Svalbard saw their highest recorded annual rates of mass loss. They also saw the largest mass loss of any #glacier region globally.
e)
Western Europe saw one of the ten wettest years on record and Europe experienced the most widespread #flooding since 2013.
f)
The year saw a record proportion of electricity generation by renewables, at 45%
https://climate.copernicus.eu/esotc/2024
Report (PDF):
https://climate.copernicus.eu/sites/default/files/custom-uploads/ESOTC-2024/press-resources/ESOTC-2024-report.pdf
#ClimateScience
#ClimateCrisis
#ClimateChange
#ExtremWeather
#Copernicus
More than 100,000 African #seeds put in #Svalbard Global #SeedVault for safekeeping
Seeds of 177 species from across #Africa to be stored in Norway to preserve #crop diversity in case of disaster.
Among the latest additions are seeds critical to building #climate resilience, such as the tree Faidherbia albida, which turns nitrogen into ammonia and nitrates, and Cordia africana, the Sudan teak, a tree renowned for its strength and durability.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/27/more-than-100000-african-seeds-put-in-svalbard-vault-for-safekeeping
'Näher dran geht's nicht' #FotoVorschlag @FotoVorschlag
Svalbard, Sommer 2023
Über Stunden haben wir den Eisbären beobachtet, erst vom Schiff, dann vom Zodiac aus und konnten uns vorsichtig (um den Bären nicht zu stören und uns nicht zu gefährden) immer mehr an das Tier annähern. Dabei ist eins meiner Lieblingsbilder der Reise entstanden. Kein Ausschnitt. Näher geht wirklich nicht!
#Svalbard #wildlife #fotografie
Jan Mayen volcano (on a tiny island near Svalbard).
Not very active. The flow out of the volcano caldera is actually a glacier!
Big earthquake there this week. Apparently only itinerant scientists and expeditions to the island. Learned today it's a "mini continent" (ie not connected to any major continent, alone unto itself).
There are still good things happening in the world. Today, Svalbard seed vault is receiving more than 14,000 new samples from around the world.
‘I know their names, what they eat’: tracking #polarbears on #Svalbard’s shifting icescapes - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/25/tracking-polar-bears-svalbard-norway-shifting-ice-melt "For more than 20 years, scientists have followed the animals in Norway’s Arctic archipelago to understand how they may adapt to changing threats as the ice they depend on melts"
Ich finde es aktuell schwer mich hier einzubringen. Zu viele Gedanken, Zukunftsangst, das Gefühl der Machtlosigkeit und Hoffnungslosigkeit.
Aber vielleicht bringt ein Foto zum #meermittwoch ja vielleicht dem einen oder anderen ein bisschen Freude!
#meer #arktis #spitzbergen #svalbard #wildlife #wildlifewednesday
The Russian Foreign Ministry claims that #Norway is planning to use #Svalbard for military purposes.
Many observers and experts have pointed to Svalbard as a possible place where #Russia could test #NATO's Article 5 joint defense guarantees.
https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/varlden/ryska-hotet-mot-norge-farlig-provokation/
Mid-Ocean Ridges Could Be Dispersing Thermophilic Bacteria https://eos.org/articles/mid-ocean-ridges-could-be-dispersing-thermophilic-bacteria https://agu.confex.com/agu/agu24/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1758308 #DeepSea #Microbes
"#Scientists have long suspected that the #endospores (a dormant form of #bacteria that can survive harsh conditions) at both sites, #Svalbard and the #Labrador Sea, might share the same warm, anoxic origins and history... when they’re dormant on the cold seabed, the endospores act as a genetic information-storing seed bank, which can be germinated for research purposes"
My annual Beautiful Abandoned Places Calendar 2025 is out now!
Hauntingl photos from #England #Wales #Romania #Hungary #Portugal #Ireland #Svalbard! All taken this year!
Each month, you'll be greeted by a stunning A4 photograph, transporting you to awe-inspiring #LostPlaces
Perfect Christmas gift for photography or #AbandonedPlaces enthusiasts
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