So far, researchers have believed that warming in the Arctic is twice as fast as the global average. Now a new study from AMAP, Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, which was published on Thursday, shows that the average temperature in the Arctic in less than half a century has increased by 3.1 degrees.
Climate researcher Kim Holmén is former head of the Norwegian Polar Institute on Svalbard and has been able to follow the changes during his 30 years on site.
– The oceans are warmer, the fjords are ice-free, there are plus degrees every winter month, it rains more, which leads to the glaciers melting, the permafrost thawing and mudslides becoming more common. The winters have become ten degrees warmer since I first came here. There are changes wherever I look, he says.
Forced to kill sled dogs
In Longeryearbyn on Svalbard, it is planned next winter season to start with artificial snow to secure the snow supply on the ski slope. In Greenland, hunters are forced to kill their sled dogs because the ice is no longer reliable to ride on.
The animals are trying to adapt to the new climate with snow-free beaches and ice-free seas. Kim Holmén shows a picture of a mountain fox that he took up close, the mountain fox lay still and thought it was invisible with its white fur, but since both the beach and the sea behind it were snow-free, it was clearly visible.
– It tells me how the whole Arctic is changing, to have white fur, it no longer works, says Kim Holmén.
The four million people living in the Arctic are also affected. Forest fires are increasingly frequent from Alaska and Siberia. And the entire planet is affected as melting ice leads to rising sea levels.
Can you see any benefits of heating?
– There are those who see commercial opportunities with new waterways for shipping, natural resources that become available and possibly new fishing waters. But we are losing a unique environment with the oceans and biodiversity, we are losing part of the world heritage, says Kim Holmén to SVT.
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