The Impacts of Climate Change in Svalbard, Norway

This study considers the impacts of climate change on the Svalbard archipelago of Norway. It focuses primarily on the impacts on non-human life in Svalbard because there are far fewer humans who reside there. Svalbard is seeing the fastest rate of warming in the entire Arctic (Descamps et al., 2017) along with other severe hazards, and the life that resides there is struggling to adapt.

Svalbard is a Norwegian archipelago that sits between 74ºN and 81ºN, hundreds of miles of the northern tip of Norway. Svalbard consists of nine separate islands, the largest and most inhabited being Spitsbergen, home to the administrative center of Longyearbyen. There are only approximately 2,500 people who live on the Islands (Norwegian Ministry of Climate and the Environment, 2013), the vast majority living in Longyearbyen. There are more polar bears than people in Svalbard, and human residents are well aware that the bears are the true residents. People living in Svalbard carry rifles when venturing outside of the settlements to protect themselves from the bears (Visit Svalbard). 

The species of Svalbard are exposed and vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Many species including the polar bear and the ringed seal depend on sea ice for their hunting and travel, and even those species that do not live on the ice live very close to the ocean. These species are especially vulnerable due to the isolated nature of Svalbard's islands, which makes it increasingly difficult for these species to move or adapt.

• Polar bears have not been able to reach their past denning grounds due to lack of sea ice, and they are also having trouble hunting because they typically use sea ice as their hunting ground (Descamps et al., 2017).
• Juvenile ringed seals have been forced to change their foraging behaviors (Descamps et al., 2017).
• Increasing frequency of rain-on-snow events is making it difficult for reindeer and other terrestrial herbivores to access the low-lying grasses and shrubs they feed on (Norwegian Ministry of Climate Change and the Environment, 2013).
  • This has been linked to a female bias in the adult sex population of reindeer (Peeters et al., 2017).
• Warming temperature's are causing an increase in species migration to and from Svalbard. Some species such as the blue mussel are establishing new populations in Svalbard, while some such as the polar cod are leaving in search of colder water (Descamps et al., 2017).
• Svalbard's isolated nature makes it very difficult for species to move northwards to remain in a favorable climate (Norwegian Ministry of Climate and the Environment, 2013).

• The few human communities that exist are at located at sea level, exposing them to rising sea levels.
• Humans in Svalbard rely on snowmobiles for travel (Visit Svalbard), often which includes traveling on sea ice. With melting sea ice and changing precipitation patterns, travel by snowmobile will become less reliable.
• One of Svalbard's largest industries is mining, which takes place in the permafrost zone. Therefore, the mining industry is vulnerable to thawing permafrost (Haldorsen et al., 2010).

Gunnar Nurme graduated from St. Lawrence University in 2021 with a combined major in environmental studies and economics. He produced this webpage as a project for Jon Rosales's Adaptation to Climate Change course in Spring 2019. Gunnar was a member of the Outing Club on campus, as well as a student guide for the Outdoor Program. He was passionate about the outdoors and working to protect our natural environment.