My World is Melting: Living with Climate Change in Svalbard

Norwegian journalist Line Nagell Ylvisåker lives with her family in Longyearbyen, the world’s most northerly town. The settlement is in Svalbard, an archipelago in a region where temperatures are rising faster than anywhere else on the planet.

In 2015, a devastating avalanche struck the town center, claiming the lives of a young girl and a father. The following autumn brought rain and landslides. When winter arrived, a second avalanche smashed into yet more of Longyearbyen’s homes.

The recurring storms and mild weather begin to make Line feel worried. What is happening to her town and to the Arctic? In search of answers, she talks to a meteorologist who was herself buried in the first avalanche who was herself buried in the first avalanche. She visits a trapper who has spent 40 inhospitable winters in Svalbard. She follows the sea currents and weather systems; hunts for the fossils of Svalbard's ancient forests; and encounters three polar bears while out hiking with her children.

Along the way, she records the changes Longyearbyen has been through and reflects on the paradoxes of a town built on coal mining and tourism.

An unflinching and fearlessly personal report from the Arctic.