The thermal impact of tourism on a Svalbard glacier cave (Short Communication)

• Published in: Czech Polar Reports
• Main Author: Alexander, Andreas
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Masaryk University Press 2021
• Subjects: Arctic; glacier; Longyearbreen; Svalbard
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.5817/cpr2021-1-11; https://journals.muni.cz/CPR/article/viewFile/15423/12291

Glacier cave visits are an important tourism activity on Svalbard with increasing popularity. This study investigates the thermal effect of touristic visits on the air temperature of a glacier cave on Longyearbreen, a small high-Arctic glacier. Short-term temperature perturbations of up to 1.59°C (42% local temperature increase) can be linked to human visitors. It is, however, unlikely that the local heat input from touristic visits is high enough to cause a lasting effect on the thermal regime of glacier caves and the surrounding ice.