Spring arrived earlier than ever before: "In Svalbard, it's so bad that we can't do our job"
That's bad news for both the climate and research.
This year, spring came unusually ealy to Svalbard. So early that researcherare struggling to carry out their work of monitoring snowmelt.(Photo of Svalbard: Liquidice, Photo of Eirik Malnes: Private)
The Arctic spring has arrived earlier than ever before.
"In Svalbard, it's so bad that we can't do our job," researcher Eirik Malnes tells Science Norway.
Researchers describe this year's spring as one of the most unpredictable and demanding they have ever experienced.
"This year’s spring has arrived exceptionally early," says Malnes, who works at the research institute NORCE.
As a result, three international research teams have encountered serious obstacles in their fieldwork.
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Polish researchers have been completely unable to reach their field sites, while researchers from Norway and Italy are still struggling with a lack of snow, rapid melting, and unstable conditions.
"In the Longyearbyen area, thermometers showed +4°C, while the norm for April is around -15°C. Instead of 30 centimetres of compact snow cover, we have bare ground," Bartłomiej Luks, one of the Polish researchers, said in a press release.
The snow is gone
Researchers are in Svalbard to monitor the effects of climate change.
This is because changes are happening faster here than elsewhere. Warming may be happening five to seven times faster than the global average, according to this article on forskning.no (link in Norwegian).
One way to monitor this is by observing the snow. Researchers take physical measurements on the ground and compare them with satellite observations.
Norwegian researchers use snowmobiles to get around.
But in Adventdalen, just outside Longyearbyen, the snow situation is dramatic. The valley is almost completely free from snow.
After only a few days, the researchers had to stop their work, and the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) has suspended all snowmobile traffic until further notice.
This is what Adventdalen looked like in April 2025 and 2026:
The Polish team could not reach Hornsund
A similar situation affected the Polish researchers.
They had planned fieldwork in the area around the Polish research station in Hornsund during April. Among other things, they were supposed to measure water content in the snow in the Fuglebekken field and carry out a new isotope experiment on the Werenskioldbreen glacier.
Their goal was to understand how snow evaporates under warmer conditions.
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But the early spring put a stop to their plans. Dense sea ice blocked the fjord outside Hornsund, preventing the research vessel from docking and unloading personnel and equipment.
At the same time, the west coast of Spitsbergen – where Werenskioldbreen is located – experienced unusually early and intense snowmelt.
For the first time in several decades, Polish researchers have been unable to carry out fieldwork there at all.
The Polish research station in Hornsund in April 2026.(Photo: Liquidice)
Lack of snow in Hornsund on Svalbard is making fieldwork difficult for researchers.(Photo: Liquidice)
Polar research may need to move into the air in the future
Eirik Malnes believes this year's situation shows that polar research is at a crossroads.
"We will probably need to begin earlier in the year, even though that brings major challenges related to the polar night," he says. "And planning will become more difficult."
Malnes stresses that satellite observations are becoming even more important now that traditional snowmobile expeditions in April grow more risky and unpredictable.
Still, fieldwork remains essential for verifying that satellite data is accurate.
"We have been doing this for many years," says Malnes.
The question now is whether this work can continue in the same way in the future.
