Glaciers in Svalbard Are Melting at a Record Pace

Researchers at Norsk Polarinstitutt (the Norwegian Polar Institute) report that glacier fronts ending in the sea around Svalbard pulled back faster this year than in any earlier measurement. The previous record was set the year before, so the last two years stand out. Ten of the archipelago's glaciers have withdrawn completely onto land during that period, High North News reports.

The institute has charted every one of these sea-terminating fronts around the archipelago since 2013. Glaciologist Geir Moholdt of the institute, who has studied Svalbard's glaciers for more than 20 years, spoke to the news outlet. Between 2024 and 2026, the fronts of several big glaciers moved back by 600 to 900 metres, among them Kronebreen, Monacobreen and Storisstraumen, the last of which is part of Austfonna.

Moholdt described the melt at the surface as brief but intense, removing a couple of metres of glacier front each year. The biggest losses happen below the waterline, where melt can reach several metres per day. He said the sea stays warm far into autumn and needs a long time to cool in winter. The institute says the cause is probably warmer ocean currents combined with regional warming, linked to a warmer atmosphere and reduced sea ice.

Moholdt said that once a glacier ends on land, circulation in the fjord weakens, which alters living conditions for species large and small. In his words, some species may benefit, while most face a large change that works against them. He hopes the last two years are an exception but fears the trend will go on. He said it could produce new islands where ice used to lie, and a less striking coastline.

He added that the Arctic is changing especially fast and that this is tied to global climate change. According to Moholdt, the development has gone so far that it will continue regardless, but its extent can still be limited by lowering greenhouse gas emissions.