Global Warming's Give and Take in Norway

Global warming is bearing gifts to Norway. As Norway's glaciers disappear, it is gaining islands at an equally rapid (or alarming) pace.


On the Svalbard archipelago, a cluster of islands off Norway's northwest coast, the give and take of climate change are evident and undeniable.




Svalbard's glaciers are melting, and fast. The ice is receding at a rate of 16 cubic kilometers each year, according to the Norwegian Polar Institute.





At the same time, new islands are appearing along Svalbard's coasts. But these islands are not its first global warming gifts.



Last year, a new island emerged off Svalbard.


In 2004, yet another island, the size of a soccer field, rose off the eastern coastline of Svalbard.


What global warming taketh, it giveth back.

For some, it means access to new lands and natural resources (like oil). For others, it means submerged homes, less food and the disappearance of water supplies.

Lucky Norway.

Categories: GlobalWarming, Norway