Svalbard Case study Flashcards
(40 cards)
What country do the Svalbard islands belong to?
Norway
What Ocean do they lie in?
The Arctic Ocean
How people and polar bears live on the islands?
3000 people and 3500 polar bears.
What does Svalbard mean? And why is this ironic?
‘Cold coasts’ - however compared to other areas at the same latitude, the climate there is relatively mild.
What is the largest settlement on the island?
Longyearbyen
What do the average temperatures range from in winter to summer in Longyearbyen?
-14* in winter to 6* in summer, although it can fall as low as -40*.
What percentage of Svalbard is covered in ice?
60%
How many glaciers do the islands contain?
2000
What island has the third largest ice cap in the world?
Nordaustlandet
Much of the land is bare ground, what does this consist of?
Rock, screw, moraines and fluvial deposits.
What percentage of the land is vegetated?
10%
What is permafrost?
Where a layer of soil, sediment or rock below the ground surface remains almost permanently frozen?
What is a fragile environment?
An environment susceptible to change and easily damaged.
Where does permafrost exist?
Almost everywhere.
Th island contains no hone largest what area in Europe?
Wilderness area
What are 3 human activities that pose a threat to the island’s wilderness?
Coal mining, scientific research and increasing tourism.
In the past what were two major economic activities in the islands?
Whaling and trapping.
Why has little mineral extraction, apart from coal mining, taken place in Svalbard?
Mining is difficult.
Why is mining difficult? Explain four reasons.
The extreme cold.
The long hours of winter darkness.
Challenging sea conditions affecting transportation to overseas markets.
The remoteness of the mines themselves.
When did the first Svalbard coal reach mainland Norway?
1899
Where does most of the current coal mining take place and how far is this from Longyearbyen?
Sveagruva - 50km south-east of Longyearbyen.
The Norwegian state-owned mining company Store-Norske employs how many of Svalbard’s workers?
A third of all workers.
Why is the company facing economic and political difficulties?
Job losses and calls from environmentalists to end mining on Svalbard.
Why would the end of mining be disastrous for the local community?
Job losses and because the extracted coal supplies all of Svalbard’s energy.
