Since May, the sea ice around Svalbard has been greatly reduced, and the ice cover is now 62,000 square kilometers below normal.
That is more than the entire combined land area of Svalbard, or Møre and Romsdal, Vestland and Rogaland combined.
Researcher Signe Aaboe at the Meteorological Institute explains that the decline is probably due to this year’s summer heat, with climate change as a contributing factor, Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) writes.
The polar bear depends on ice-covered seas to survive. The species is considered vulnerable. According to the environmental organization WWF, the population had between 31,000 and 22,000 animals in 2021.
The amount of sea ice in the Arctic has gradually decreased over several decades due to global warming.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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Coastal communities should be seriously looking at higher ground while there is still time. It is not just Antarctica’s Thwaites ice field which could collapse overnight.