Listen "Unfrozen North"
Episode Synopsis
What happens in the world's most northerly town when the permafrost de-frosts? Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough visits Svalbard to find out.Longyearbyen, a three hour flight north of Oslo, is a mining town of just 2000 people, but a pretty high proportion of them are research scientists. They cluster in this relatively sheltered corner of the enormous Svalbard archipelago to study the geology and wildlife. As the Arctic rapidly warms nature is changing with it and there's nowhere better to study the impacts. Can Arctic plant species survive a warmer, wetter climate? Can reindeer, fox and polar bear adapt to the new conditions? And how are the people enjoying the relatively balmy new climate? Nordic scholar, Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough meets the stoical residents and experiences the 24 hour darkness of the Arctic winter for herself. Producer: Alasdair Cross.
More episodes of the podcast Costing the Earth
Introducing Rare Earth
19/01/2024
Steve Backshall Goes Off Grid
23/05/2023
Save the Microbes!
16/05/2023
Gardens of the Future
09/05/2023
Investigation DRS
02/05/2023
Water pollution solutions
25/04/2023
Losing Our History
18/04/2023
Energy Lessons
04/04/2023
The Sound of Nature
28/03/2023
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.