Tag: Svalbard

Swiss Seed Samples for the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard

Rosamaria Kubny

Svalbard – On October 21, 2025, the Global Seed Vault on Svalbard was opened once again. More than 21,000 new samples from 20 international gene banks made their way into the frozen mountain above the airport of Longyearbyen.

Arctic lakes, when life stimulates methane

Mirjana Binggeli

As global warming profoundly transforms Arctic ecosystems, a new study reveals that lakes at high latitudes may be releasing more methane than previously thought. This greenhouse gas, far more potent than CO₂, is produced in the sediments of lakes that have become more biologically productive. A worrying dynamic, revealing new climate feedback loops.

On Svalbard, winters are melting too

Mirjana Binggeli

During a winter field mission in February 2025, an international team of researchers was confronted with above-freezing temperatures, persistent rainfall, and widespread melting across the Svalbard archipelago. An anomaly that has become routine in an Arctic where winter, once reliably harsh, is giving way to an unstable and worrying climate regime.

The Polar Retrospective – A Chilean plan for Antarctica, US agencies spying in Greenland, and new Arctic coastlines

Polar Journal AG Team

The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world’s polar regions. This week we take a look at Chile's presidential commitment to the Antarctic, reports about US intelligence gathering in Greenland, and the emergence of new Arctic coastlines as glaciers retreat.

The Polar Retrospective – Declining sea ice helps Common Eiders, Farewell to AWI Directrice

Polar Journal AG Team

The Polar Retrospective looks at recent stories from around the world’s polar regions. This week we take a look at the breeding tactics of Common eiders on Svalbard, a goodbye video to the directrice of the AWI.

Svalbard no longer Arctic?

Julia Hager

The summer of 2024 was the warmest on record in Svalbard – with temperatures no longer meeting the definition of a "polar climate".

Christening Tara Polar Station

Camille Lin

A polar vessel has just been christened in France, in the port of Lorient. The event was attended by a host of polar experts before the ship set sail for the Arctic, where it will operate north of Svalbard starting this summer.

"Is there a lack of awareness of the risks associated with outdoor activity?"

Camille Lin

The absence of an insurance offer adapted to polar operators linked to France is felt by professionals in the sector who responded to a survey by the Chaire Enjeux Polaires.

The Polar Retrospective - Russia-US Arctic oil talks, a withdrawn documentary, 'glacial fracking', and Greenlanders' genes

Polar Journal AG Team

This week we look at the latest statement of Russian official Kirill Dmitriev, a now withdrawn documentary, glacial fracking, and a new study on Greenlandic genes.

E. coli infections treatment: a response from the cold?

Mirjana Binggeli

While E. coli bacterial infections are still rife, sometimes with serious consequences, two promising new bacteria have just been discovered in Arctic waters.