Human-caused global warming is particularly amplified in the Arctic, causing its climate to warm more quickly than the rest of the Earth: rain is projected to become the dominant form of precipitation in the Arctic by the end of this century. Svalbard is at the front line of the climate crisis, warming at six to seven times the global average rate. The winter period is experiencing the highest rates of warming with winter temperatures over Svalbard rising at nearly twice the annual average. In Ny-Ålesund, the world’s northernmost permanent settlement, situated in north-west Svalbard and approximately 1,200 km from the North Pole, the air temperature average for February 2025 was -3.3 °C — considerably higher than the 1961-2001 average for this time of year of -15 °C. Such sustained warmth, coupled with prolonged rainfall, triggered widespread melting of snow and ice.
Read the article by Bradley, J.A., Molares Moncayo, L., Gallo, G. et al. on Nature.com
