| Video: Svalbard- High Hopes in the High Arctic |
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| Contributed by J. R. Ransom | |
 Svalbard In 2006, Svalbard had the highest positive temperature deviation on earth, making it the poster child for global warming. The shrinking sea ice has brought with it both hazards and opportunities. The climate is not the only thing heating up. Russian territorial claims in the High Arctic have recently intensified and the environmental practices in Barentsburg, the existing Russian settlement, continue to raise concerns. The local community refuses to stand idly by. An ambitious plan to make Svalbard the first CO² free area in the world is blazing forward. Controversially, yet perhaps realistically, the plan relies heavily on the continued use of coal. Another landmark development, the construction of the Arctic Seed Vault, is putting Svalbard firmly back on the world map. The vault will store many of the world's seeds in case of a global calamity.
Arctic Seed Vault images courtesy of Mari Tefre/Global Crop Diversity Trust and Statsbygg/Longyearbyen. |
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