It was record-breakingly hot weekend in Longyearbyen, on the Norwegian Spitsbergen, an island of the Arctic archipelago Svalbard. For the first time in August, a temperature of 100°C was recorded at the local airport (Svalbard Lufthavn) at 13:00 local time on Sunday. over 20 degrees Celsius – exactly 20.3 degrees. The previous August record comes from August 31, 1997, and it was much lower, at 18.1 degrees. Monday didn't start off any worse in this regard either – at 11:00 it was already 19.4 degrees. It is therefore possible that the new week will start with breaking yesterday's record.
The Arctic is heating up. Longyearbyen breaks temperature record
Longyearbyen is the main city of the Svalbard archipelago. Situated at 78 degrees latitude geographically north is the northernmost permanently inhabited human settlement. Although there are still small, inhabited settlements or single houses, among those with a population of over 1,000 people, Longyearbyen (about 2,400 inhabitants) is the closest to the North Pole. It is also the fastest warming city in the world – because the Arctic as a whole is warming drastically faster than the world average. And it's visible.
Sunday's 20.3 degrees is a monthly record for August (which means that Longyearbyen has never been so warm in August), but only 1.4 degrees lower than the all-time record for Svalbard – 21.7 degrees on July 25, 2020. This year could set more new records. In June, the average temperature at the airport station near Longyearbyen was 8.3 degrees Celsius (average!) – never before in June has it been so high. July It was 1.3 degrees warmer than the long-term average (1991-2020) for this month, and exceptionally rainy.
“Something special”
The Far North is becoming more and more popular, recently as the so-called coolcationor the “cool” version holidays in places where people escape from the heat of the south (cool + vacation). But the heat reaches even the Arctic (although not with the same temperatures as, for example, in the Mediterranean basin thing bright).
– This is something special. It has been extremely hot there for a long time – says climate researcher Ketil Isaksen from the Meteorological Institute, quoted by the Norwegian portal Aftenposten. The scientist points out that everything indicates that Svalbard will experience three record warm years in a row – 2022, 2023, and now perhaps 2024. He also recalls how three decades ago it was possible to go on a summer trip around the island, with fresh food in a bag that did not spoil for many days, stored outside the home refrigerator. Now this is no longer possible, it is too warm.
What is happening in Longyearbyen may threaten the city itself. Higher than usual temperatures and heavier precipitation may cause landslides, which have already happened there, with tragic consequences. But it is also damaging the Arctic nature, flora and fauna (the most famous representative of which is the polar bear), especially those living in the sea. In addition, the Arctic as a whole acts as a giant refrigerator for the global climate and weather system. The more it melts, the worse it is for all of us. And the more this melting is fueled, because the increasing loss of sea ice, which reflects sunlight, makes dark water they heat up more, accelerating the further melting of the ice.
If you want to see Spitsbergen in pictures and read a little more about it, I invite you to read our report from the trip to Spitsbergen with scientists from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań – texts and materials can be found at this link.