– Perhaps the most extreme thing now is that we have had three years in a row with a record for the summer as a whole. You usually get a hot record summer, then a few successive cooler summers – not that you set a new record. This is what climate researcher at the Meteorological Institute, Ketil Isaksen, tells news. RECORD: Ketil Isaksen at the measuring station for monitoring permafrost at Janssonhaugen. The layer above the permafrost, which thaws every summer, was record deep this year, says Isaksen. Photo: Lars-Anders Breivik / Meteorological Institute For the past few days, the climate scientist has been collecting data on Svalbard, where global warming has seriously left its mark on the Arctic archipelago. He himself describes the situation as quite special, with a record in August at all measuring stations for air temperature on the archipelago. – At Svalbard Airport, we measured well over 10 degrees for the first time. It seems that the temperature in August will end at 11.0 degrees. It is absolutely exceptional. It is very rare that there is such a large temperature jump from the previous record, which was well below ten degrees. MORE COMMON: The permafrost landscape has changed as a result of sustained warming throughout the year, but particularly increased warming in recent summers. This has become a common sight in the Arctic. Photo: Ketil Isaksen / Meteorological Institute – Never experienced August 2024 will go down in the history books with gloomy omens: Several measuring stations in Finnmark have measured temperatures up to 7 degrees above normal. All days in August have been above normal at Svalbard Airport. New seasonal temperature record for Svalbard. The 10-degree limit, which defines arctic climate, has been passed twice this summer. The border was crossed for the first time in July last year. Last year, the 10-degree limit was broken for the first time in Svalbard’s history. So far this year, the limit has been breached twice. The boundary defines, over a 30-year average temperature, whether an area lies within or outside the Arctic. Although it is some time before it can possibly be said that Svalbard is out of the Arctic, the researcher has no doubt that this is worrying. – We have never experienced this since the measurements started over 100 years ago. It is a clear warning sign and a symbolism that we have now passed this. Worried Since Isaksen was a student in the mid-90s, he has been to Svalbard at least once a year. The changes since then affect him. – I myself have had the chance to experience Svalbard, at least in the more natural state Svalbard had before the warming skyrocketed, he says, before he continues: – We probably won’t get to experience the same stable conditions that were here before. There are very clear changes. It is frightening to see the big changes that happen over such a relatively short time as a few years. The concern is shared by State Secretary Sigrun Gjerløw Aasland (Ap) in the Ministry of Climate and Environment. She takes seriously the fact that the 10-degree limit has been passed twice so far this year. – It is extremely serious. And one thing is that the temperature is increasing, but everyone who has been to Svalbard has also seen that this can be seen and felt in everyday life on Svalbard to a very large extent, she says. CONCERNED: State Secretary Sigrun Gjerløw Aasland (Ap) in the Ministry of Climate and Environment. Photo: Mathias Moene Rød / news Climate change or natural variations? In recent years, the glaciers on Svalbard have melted and retreated, in addition to less snow-covered areas. At the same time, large areas of permafrost have begun to thaw. – We are thawing in old permafrost, often ice-rich permafrost, which causes the landscape to change character. You get a number of sentences and changes in the landscape which means that you get water accumulations in places where there was not so much water before. – This leaves its mark on the landscape, especially when you walk the same routes on the tundra that you have walked before, you feel it well. GATHERING: Thawing tundra in Adventdalen on Svalbard. Where the permafrost is rich in ice, one gets local settlements when the permafrost thaws, which causes water to collect on the surface and makes the tundra locally wetter. Photo: Ketil Isaksen / Meteorological Institute Isaksen emphasizes the importance of distinguishing between natural variations and climate change. Furthermore, that it is a combination of variations and the man-made component. This means that you have to look at the changes over a period of 30-40 years or more to see the clear features, he says. – We had fairly stable summer temperatures on Svalbard for much of the 20th century, but from the 1990s until today there has been a sharp increase in temperature, he says, before continuing: – The change in the last 30 years is outside the natural the fluctuations that would have occurred without global warming. Svalbard 2100 In 2019, Isaksen and several other researchers published a report Climate in Svalbard 2100. In their calculations of future climate development, they based a forecast of 10 degrees temperature rise with high greenhouse gas emissions and 7 degrees with medium emissions. – Given what we now see, how are we doing? – It is unfortunately the case that the development in the summer of the last 30 years, and the other seasons, follow the paths we have calculated towards a significantly warmer future climate here on Svalbard. GROWING: The permafrost landscape on Svalbard is changing. During last year’s and this year’s record hot summer, the cracks and depressions have grown particularly large. Photo: Ketil Isaksen / Meteorological Institute – Vanskelig Isaksen has no doubts about the importance of researchers documenting the changes taking place in the northern regions. This is, among other things, to be able to form as good a knowledge base as possible about the changes. – The authorities and others must take this further to assess what measures need to be taken to stop and slow down the temperature rise we are now seeing happening at full strength. Although the international community has several global climate agreements, such as the Paris Agreement, the arrows still point in the wrong direction. – It turns out that it is difficult to take measures large enough to slow down the warming that is happening in the northern regions. This also applies across the globe. Climate summit in November State Secretary Sigrun Aasland acknowledges that current measures are not sufficient to slow down climate change. – It is very important that we are all aware that what is now happening on Svalbard, and indeed many other places in the world. It has a direct connection with man-made climate change, which we must tackle even more, she says. Aasland points out that Norway’s emissions in 2023 decreased as much as they had decreased from 1990 to 2022. – What will Norway do internationally to get the world community involved? – We work actively in all climate negotiations, and there is a new climate summit in November this year. There, Norway and almost 200 other countries have signed binding agreements that we will work together to reduce emissions, says Aasland, before she continues: – It will be important that we keep up the pace and strengthen our own climate policy. And then it will be important that we also contribute in other countries. With a weaker economy than Norway’s, they can also cut their emissions. Hello! Thank you for reading the matter! Do you have any tips for this issue or other climate issues we should look into? Feel free to send me an email! Published 02.09.2024, at 15.35
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Extreme climate change in Svalbard – past the Arctic border – news Troms and Finnmark
