Permafrost Loss In Svalbard Not Just Threatening Seed Vault: 100s Of Homes Collapsing As Temps Soar

Climate changes are literally destabilizing homes on Norway’s Svalbard archipelago. Traditionally, buildings in Longyearbyen are built on wooden stacks resting on what used to be frozen permafrost. Now, about 250 homes will have to be torn down, Aftenposten reports. For a town of 2,200 people, that is a lot. Melting permafrost has cause troubles for buildings, infrastructure and coastal erosions throughout the circumpolar north. But the speed of the problem so far north as Longyearbyen, 1300 kilometers beyond the Arctic Circle has surprised everyone.

Temperatures in the Arctic continue to soar. For 2017, average temperatures in Longyearbyen were 4,5°C higher than normal. While the UN Climate Panel this week issued a report urging world leaders to take action to limit global average warming to 1.5°C, the same scientists concludes that the Arctic is already warming two to three times higher.

Over the last 94 months, temperatures measured at Longyearbyen airport have been above average since measurements started in 1936. This year, spring came abnormally early, with a mean temperature of 1,8°C in May. That is 6°C above normal in a month where the frost should still remain.

Permafrost is defined as ground where the temperature is below zero degrees Celsius for a minimum two years in succession. In summer at Svalbard, the upper one-meter of soil thaws and plants can grow. It is this one-meter that now melts deeper, making the traditional wooden pillars houses in Longyearbyen are build on unstable. Two snow avalanches and landslides, in 2015 and 2017, is another reason some houses nearest to the steep mountain have to be moved. The avalanches are also linked to climate changes as the snow piles and warmer weather cause higher risk for avalanches.

EDIT

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/arctic/2018/10/thawing-permafrost-troubles-longyearbyen