The Mercury News

Spellbindi­ng polar nights grow even darker in warming Arctic

- By Daniel Cole and Giovanna Dell'Orto

LONGYEARBY­EN, NORWAY >> At 10:40 a.m. on a day in January, two powerful beams of light from the Svalbard governor's boat pierced the complete darkness of the mountain-fringed fjord it was sailing. It was carrying the children's choir from this remote village's church to visit an even more isolated Arctic outpost.

That's polar night in this Norwegian archipelag­o — so close to the North Pole the sun is at least 6 degrees below the horizon from mid-November through the end of January. For the miners, scientists and tourism workers of more than 50 nationalit­ies who make up most of Svalbard's 3,000 inhabitant­s, it's challengin­g at first to adjust to living without even a hint of twilight in a treeless, black-and-white landscape.

“First time in Svalbard, it was like coming to the moon,” said the Rev. Leif Magne Helgesen, who was the pastor of Svalbard Kirke, the only church in the main village of Longyearby­en, for a dozen years until 2019, and has written about its fragile environmen­t.

Then the polar night becomes an opportunit­y to slow down and appreciate the only glimpses of natural light — the stars, the elusive swirls of the aurora borealis, and the full moon, which circles overhead without setting for a couple of days at a time.

At almost every window, a candle or star-shaped decoration twinkles a sign of welcome. In the pitch black, the headlights of rare passing vehicles and snowmobile­s pick out a reindeer's eyes or the reflective vests and bands every human wears while walking or skiing around.

Most of all, there's the glow of the snowpack. But that's changing as the Arctic, and especially this archipelag­o lapped by warm currents, heats up faster than most of the rest of the world, delaying and reducing snowfall.

This winter in Svalbard, it rained for a few weeks after the polar night started.

“When the dark season comes … we're used to see northern lights, the moon, stars, and the snow is lighting up. Now it became dark and depressing,” said Espen Rotevatn, the director of Svalbard Folkehøgsk­ole, an alternativ­e school in Longyearby­en. He's been advocating for local solutions to climate change.

As Karina Bernlow's dogsleddin­g pups happily played in the swirling snow on a mid-January afternoon, she also feared the prospect of warmer seasons.

“A muddy winter, I can't live in that,” said Bernlow, who runs dogsleddin­g outfit Green Dog with her family in a broad valley outside Longyearby­en.

 ?? PHOTOS BY DANIEL COLE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? The Svalbard Kirke cabin lights up the polar night in Bolterdale­n, Norway. Here, the sun is at least 6degrees below the horizon from mid-November through the end of January.
PHOTOS BY DANIEL COLE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Svalbard Kirke cabin lights up the polar night in Bolterdale­n, Norway. Here, the sun is at least 6degrees below the horizon from mid-November through the end of January.
 ?? ?? A sign signals the danger of polar bears at the edge of Longyearby­en, Norway. To go anywhere beyond the limits of Longyearby­en, people are advised to have protection.
A sign signals the danger of polar bears at the edge of Longyearby­en, Norway. To go anywhere beyond the limits of Longyearby­en, people are advised to have protection.
 ?? ?? Spotlights from the governor's boat light the horizon from Longyearby­en to Barentsbur­g, Norway. It was carrying the children's choir from Longyearby­en's only church, Svalbard Kirke, to visit Barentsbur­g.
Spotlights from the governor's boat light the horizon from Longyearby­en to Barentsbur­g, Norway. It was carrying the children's choir from Longyearby­en's only church, Svalbard Kirke, to visit Barentsbur­g.

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