Polar Bear

An analysis by the University of Bremen has show that extreme melting has pushed arctic sea ice levels to the lowest it has ever been in recorded history – and things could get worse. The record of 4.24 square kilometres could be pushed even further. There is a close link between arctic August air temperatures

On the Arctic Svalbard archipelago, one British tourist was killed and four others were seriously injured by a polar bear Friday morning, NRK reports. They have been airlifted to the Longyearbyen hospital. The bear has been killed. Read the full article Svalbard: One killed, four injured by polar bear.

See this video from National Geographic: a big grave site with countless foxils of huge sea predators from Jurassic.

Norwegian and other international researchers have uncovered a major increase in sea temperatures around Norway’s northern archipelago of Svalbard. Their measurements shows that the sea areas are now warmer than they’ve been for 2,000 years. Read the full article Warmest waters ever around Svalbard.

The Russian company Trust Arktikugol has restarted coal mining at the archipelago of Svalbard after a two and a half year break. The production halt came after a fire in the local mine in 2008. Read the full article in Russians restarted coal mining at Svalbard.