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SUN IS BACK AT LAST…SCIENTIFICALLY SPEAKING: It was behind clouds and mountains, but after nearly four months of night Longyearbyen gets 27 minutes of sunlight Tuesday

SUN IS BACK AT LAST…SCIENTIFICALLY SPEAKING: It was behind clouds and mountains, but after nearly four months of night Longyearbyen gets 27 minutes of sunlight Tuesday

By Mark Sabbatini on February 17, 2022

Read Time:2 Minute, 12 Second

Image from UNIS webcam

In one of those “naked underneath all those clothes” enticements, the sun revealed itself to Longyearbyen on Tuesday for the first time since late October – if 27 minutes of “exposure” behind a lot of clouds and mountains counts.

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NEW COVID CASES REMAIN HIGH, BUT NEW RULES AFFECT WEEKLY COUNT: 15 cases during past week down from 31 the previous week, but fewer people now need tests

NEW COVID CASES REMAIN HIGH, BUT NEW RULES AFFECT WEEKLY COUNT: 15 cases during past week down from 31 the previous week, but fewer people now need tests

By Mark Sabbatini on February 8, 2022

Read Time:1 Minute, 24 Second

Photo of Andreas Eriksson at Longyearbyen’s self-test station courtesy of Longyearbyen Lokalstyre

A total of 15 positive cases were registered in Longyearbyen during the past week, bringing the total for the year to 87, according to the city’s weekly update released Monday. It notes no people have been hospitalized this year, but a relatively high number of new cases is likely at least in the short term.

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GET MORE SMARTER ABOUT SVALBARD: Annual two-week ’The History of Svalbard’ course at UNIS offering lectures, exams (and answers!) and other materials free online

GET MORE SMARTER ABOUT SVALBARD: Annual two-week ’The History of Svalbard’ course at UNIS offering lectures, exams (and answers!) and other materials free online

By Mark Sabbatini on February 7, 2022

Read Time:1 Minute, 13 Second

Painting by Abraham Storck, 1690 / Courtesy of Rijksmuseum Netherlands

Now that visiting Svalbard is finally getting back to something resembling normal after two years of Covid, those wanting to arrive informed can take advantage of one of the few pluses of the pandemic as a just completed and much-acclaimed two-week university history course about the archipelago’s history is available free online.

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CUTTING MOST COVID-19 TESTS FOR SVALBARD: Permanent residents, and visitors who are vaccinated or recovered from the virus are exempt for travel from mainland

CUTTING MOST COVID-19 TESTS FOR SVALBARD: Permanent residents, and visitors who are vaccinated or recovered from the virus are exempt for travel from mainland

By Mark Sabbatini on February 3, 2022

Read Time:1 Minute, 42 Second

Photo courtesy of Longyearbyen Lokalstyre

Two years after the beginning of Svalbard’s peak tourism season was destroyed by declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, the archipelago is beginning the season with a renewed sign of optimism as nearly all virus-related travel rules for travel from the mainland are no longer in effect, the Norwegian government announced this week.

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PARALLEL UNIVERSE: A 10,000-km voyage around Svalbard reveals an ecosystem facing ’terminal decline’ – and small moments of hope from Earth’s largest creatures

PARALLEL UNIVERSE: A 10,000-km voyage around Svalbard reveals an ecosystem facing ’terminal decline’ – and small moments of hope from Earth’s largest creatures

By Mark Sabbatini on January 29, 2022

Read Time:2 Minute, 39 Second

Tord Karlsen / Arctic Sense Expedition

The summary of their four-month sea voyage is suicidally depressing, in the sense of portraying an imminent future of humans hastening their widespread life-ending pattern of destruction. But they also found hope in a few moments, such as a brief encounter with ten blue whales that convinced the researchers Earth’s biggest creatures are making a slow recovery that may have larger implications.

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TWICE AS ICE: Since Svalbard is warming 7X faster than the global average, scientists studying long-term patterns say – big shock – glacier melt rate speeding up and may double by 2100

TWICE AS ICE: Since Svalbard is warming 7X faster than the global average, scientists studying long-term patterns say – big shock – glacier melt rate speeding up and may double by 2100

By Mark Sabbatini on January 27, 2022

Read Time:1 Minute, 51 Second

Yeah, it’s yet another climate study predicting a hellishly gloomy Svalbard by 2100. But instead of triggering heartburn by focusing on impacts such as dead polar bears this study warning about the doubling of local glacier melting invokes cool back-to-the-future concepts such as “space-for-time substitution.”

Or, as the scientists explain more simply, “they studied development patterns of hundreds of glaciers over relatively short periods of time rather than a single glacier over a very long period of time. The method is useful because the glaciers exist in a very wide variety of climates.”

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13 COVID CASES IN SVALBARD FIRST WEEK OF 2022: Four infected with Omicron, officials said they’ve lost control of ability to track cases, increases expected to continue

13 COVID CASES IN SVALBARD FIRST WEEK OF 2022: Four infected with Omicron, officials said they’ve lost control of ability to track cases, increases expected to continue

By Mark Sabbatini on January 12, 2022

Read Time:1 Minute, 19 Second

Photo by Longyearbyen Lokalstyre

A total of 13 COVID-19 cases were detected among residents and visitors in Svalbard during the first week of 2022, including four of the Omicron variant, with local officials saying they expected cases to continue to rise and they’ve lost control of the ability track the path of local cases.

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ONE OF SVALBARD’S TWO UNDERSEA FIBER CABLES SEVERED: Officials say communications capability still normal, emergency repair and contingency operations underway

ONE OF SVALBARD’S TWO UNDERSEA FIBER CABLES SEVERED: Officials say communications capability still normal, emergency repair and contingency operations underway

By Mark Sabbatini on January 10, 2022

Read Time:1 Minute, 53 Second

One of two subsea fiber cables providing communications capabilities to Svalbard from mainland Norway is severed, posing a potential threat to virtually cut off the archipelago from the outside world although capabilities are currently operating normally on the lone remaining cable, officials said Sunday.

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SWISS APPOINT SVALBARD’S FIRST ‘HONORARY’ CONSUL: Marcel Schütz, a tour operator critical of Norway’s recent policy for foreigners, named first-ever such diplomat in Arctic

SWISS APPOINT SVALBARD’S FIRST ‘HONORARY’ CONSUL: Marcel Schütz, a tour operator critical of Norway’s recent policy for foreigners, named first-ever such diplomat in Arctic

By Mark Sabbatini on December 10, 2021

Read Time:2 Minute, 1 Second

Photo Marcel Schütz, right, discussing his new appointment as Switzerland’s first honorary consul in Svalbard, by Michael Wenger

Marcel Schütz is among those recently questioning the Norwegian government’s approach to policy regarding foreign residents in Svalbard, but his importance from his homeland’s perspective made history this week as Switzerland appointed him the first local honorary Swiss consul during a ceremony in Longyearbyen.

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SOLIDIFYING THE LAND, STIRRING UP THE WATERS: Expert says Russia will boost peaceful activities in Svalbard such as tourism and research, increase military provocation at sea

SOLIDIFYING THE LAND, STIRRING UP THE WATERS: Expert says Russia will boost peaceful activities in Svalbard such as tourism and research, increase military provocation at sea

By Mark Sabbatini on December 8, 2021

Read Time:1 Minute, 25 Second

Photo of Lenin bust in Barentsburg by Wikimedia Commons

“Russia isn’t about to annex Svalbard,” but is planning a hostile takeover of sorts in the waters surrounding it, according to a polar geopolics expert.

That means in addition to boosting its archipelago activities such as tourism and research, there will be more “sabre rattling” in the form of warships sailing closer, louder diplomatic protests and other actions while remaining inside the boundaries of the Svalbard Treaty.

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