Flying to Svalbard is a double-edged sword: it’s super interesting, but it’s also part of the problem.

According to co2.myclimate.org, my travel partner and myself emitted about 2 tonnes of CO² each over the course of the trip. All bus journeys involved only constituted 50-60 kg of that with flying obviously being the greatest culprit.

While we were there, there was even a local climate protest involving a few dozens of people marching down the main road through Longyearbyen – the largest settlement on the islands. And rightly so, as it has been reported many times: Svalbard is one of the fastest warming places in the world.

Anyways, enough about human-caused climate change. People don’t want to hear about it.

Svalbard is decently close to the North Pole and thus it’s fairly cold there by human standards. But it’s ideal for polar bears and other animals who’ve evolved to deal with arctic conditions. Thus many people, over 62,000 visitors recorded in 2023, flock there each year to witness the chilling circumstances, surreal lighting and wildlife on the archipelago.

On a trip to Pyramiden, we saw two polar bears along the southwestern shores of Billefjorden plus a flock of beluga whales just near Diabasodden. The animals were specifically seen from gloriously safe distances – both for us and for the animals. Hence I had to switch the DSLR to 4K and avail of the controversial digital zoom.

Efforts to avoid normalising encounters between humans and the largest land predator are beneficial for all parties involved. We’re killing these animals after all.

In the grand scheme of things, we had a lucky time there in terms of sights and wonders. No auroras though, but those can be seen from Ireland anyways on rare occasions.

References:

Bradley J. A., Moncayo L. M., Gallo G., Brusca J., Viglezio T., Pasotti J. & Giovannelli D. 2025. Svalbard winter warming is reaching melting point. Nat Commun, Vol. 16, 6409. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60926-8

SVALBARD-STATISTIKKEN 2023 – Markeds- og gjestestatistikk. Visit Svalbard.
https://www.visitsvalbard.com/ dbimgs/%C3%85rsstatistikk2023.pdf

https://www.myclimate.org/en/