Temperatures at Norway’s Arctic archipelago hit record high

Temperatures at Norway's Svalbard archipelago, about midway between the mainland and the North Pole, hit a record high of 21.7 degrees Celsius on Friday, Norway's Meteorological Institute said. Home to more than 2,000 people, Longyearbyen, the main settlement in Svalbard, is about 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) from the North Pole. The Norwegian Centre for Climate Studies said last February average temperatures in Svalbard had leapt between three and five degrees Celsius (5.4-9.0 Fahrenheit) since the early 1970s and could rise by a total of 10C (18F) by 2100, if world greenhouse gas emissions keep climbing. The Arctic region is warming faster than the rest of the world, putting the entire ecosystem in danger.

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