The Arctic is too damn hot. Source: Climate Change Institute

By Brian Kahn • November 12, 2020

Svalbard, Norway, is home to the world’s doomsday seed vault because it’s so cold. But the climate crisis is changing that calculation.

In the latest sign that the transformation of the Arctic continues full speed ahead, Svalbard hit a record high temperature for November on Wednesday. A station set on the mountain pass of Reindalspasset recorded a high of 49 degrees Fahrenheit (9.4 degrees Celsius). That is, to put it lightly, extremely not normal and very bad.

Ketil Isaksen, a researcher with Norway’s meteorological agency, tweeted the ignominious milestone along with a photo of the station on a normally snow-caked, barren Arctic landscape. The temperature is a November record for the entire archipelago that sits well above the Arctic Circle. While the station was installed just last October, Svalbard weather data extends back to the start of the 20th century. Other weather stations scattered across the islands all recorded temperatures well into the 40s as well, underscoring just how widespread the heat was. For perspective, the average November temperature at Svalbard’s airport, home to the longest-running temperature record on the island, is 17.6 degrees Fahrenheit (minus-8.8 degrees Celsius).

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