Impact of and solutions to effects of climate changes for Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway

• Published in: IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering
• Main Authors: Winther, Susanna N, Gudmestad, Ove Tobias
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: IOP Publishing 2023
• Subjects: Arctic; Longyearbyen; Norway; Svalbard; albedo; Global warming; Ice; permafrost; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10037/32502; https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/1294/1/012036

Climate changes forces us to make significant mitigation and adaptation measures. As temperature rises and the environmental conditions changes, a variety of challenges occur. Across the whole globe, harming consequences are already being experienced. The Arctic region is particularly vulnerable to changes in Earth’s climate system, especially because of the albedo effect, and the region is already heavily impacted. Primarily through the melting of ice, both sea ice and glaciers, permafrost thawing and changing precipitation patterns. Longyearbyen, Svalbard, is one examples of a society having to change as a direct result of global warming. This paper focuses on the challenges Longyearbyen will be facing and possible adaption methods and solutions. Because of environmental changes, the risk of natural hazards will increase, infrastructure will get damaged and traditional engineering methods will be impossible to implement. This is threatening to human lives as well as the habitat and survival of mammals, birds, and plants. It will be essential to find ways to predict and limit the effects of climate challenges, by protecting people and infrastructure from them. This will require innovation, adaption and risk-taking. By investigating the climate challenges facing Longyearbyen and possible ways to address them, this paper emphasizes the urgency of tackling the effects of climate changes in the Arctic in order to protect the communities in the Arctic region.