A Hot Place to Learn about Climate Change

Posted by Emma Lehmberg on Wednesday, March 10, 2010

The Arctic is a sublimely beautiful place - vast tundras of ice, unfamiliar creatures stalking the land and swimming in the sea, and best of all, you have it all to yourself. Unless, of course, you happen to be vacationing in Svalbard, Norway, for the summer.

Since 1963, when the coal mines on this Norwegian archipelago shut down, the series of islands became increasingly popular. Completely isolated from much of modern life, the research stations that dot the land are filled with scientists looking for answers about our climate (the total number of research scientists swells from 35 in the winter to 180 during the summer.) If you were to visit, you could meet ecologists, paleontologists, climatologists, and a myriad more from around the globe.

Part of the reason this place is so attractive is because the land is largely untouched. It's an unforgiving place, so human settlements never really took hold (the total population of the entire archipelago is about 2 500 with an area of 61 000 km.) This gives researchers a chance to study life as it might be without human interaction.

The archipelago is also home to some of the world's most famous climate research stations (one recently visited by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon) and an international agricultural seed bank that hosts some 4.5 million crop seed samples.

I'd say for an island that doesn't get much attention, it's doing alright, wouldn't you?