The rough landing was an antithesis to the spellbinding vista of the Svalbard archipelago during the descent. At 650 miles from the North Pole, Longyearbyen is one of the most remote settlements on Earth. I was there for the Climate Force Arctic Expedition and our team set out for a bus tour before embarkation. “Welcome to the arctic. If you had a bumpy landing, it is the melting permafrost.” Our guide and driver pointed out to an area devastated by an avalanche some years back. “Climate change is a big challenge for this town.” I learnt that there were no roads outside the main settlements and the only way around was on snowmobiles. “Without the ice, transportation is an emerging challenge for the people of the high arctic.” Svalbard Reindeers walked around nonchalantly, a few curious dark eyes glancing up at our bus. I remember having read about starvation deaths among these northernmost living herbivores. A fallout of climate change is increased rainfall, which freezes into hard ice, making it difficult for reindeers to get to the vegetation underneath. Heading back into town, he pointed up to the mountains. “The Global Seed Vault up there is being repaired after the damage from flooding in October 2016. ------------------------- From the top deck of the National Geographic Explorer the frolicking belugas looked like little white dolphins. In the four hours since we set-off from Longyearbyen, we had seen a polar bear, albeit on a distant shore, a couple of humpbacks, and birds- fulmars, kittiwakes, puffins and guillemots. But to be anchored among hundred beluga whales was unreal. The team of marine biologists facilitated our understanding of how the fate of these iconic Arctic animals are connected to sea ice in more ways than one. With large parts of the Arctic remaining ice-free for longer periods, there have been increased reports of killer whale sightings, making the slow-moving belugas more vulnerable to predation. With sea ice becoming increasingly unstable, their chances of being trapped has also increased. The sea ice provides protection, but its decline often makes it advantageous for predators. In recent years, the belugas have been sighted in unexpected areas, and studies connect the straying from known migration routes to changes in sea ice extents. ------------------------- Every announcement over the PA system on the expedition ship brought along new reasons for excitement. One of the most anticipated was the zodiac landing on an island with a colony of walrus. From the deck, they were indistinguishable from innumerable rocks scattered around the beach. Unfortunately, the iconic tuskers of the North polar region are feeling the heat as the Arctic is warming at least twice as fast as the rest of the world. A decrease is food availability is expected with documented declines among clam populations that are critical prey for walruses, associated with reductions in sea ice declines. I learnt that ocean acidification reduces the saturation state of carbonate ions in the water, which can affect the growth, development and survival of calcifying invertebrates that are the major prey of walruses. It made me very sad that the lazy, somnolent giants with hilariously endearing antics were affected by climate change. ------------------------- No visit to the arctic would be complete without a polar bear sighting. But we had to endure several heartbreaks before a reasonable encounter with the 'Pihoqahiak,' or the "ever-wandering one’ in Inuit language. Polar bears have emerged as the face of climate change, and for good reason. They are likely to disappear from the southern Arctic ranges within decades, and some studies predict that two-thirds of the global population will be completely wiped out by mid-century. ------------------------- The rapid loss of sea and land ice has had a profound impact on people and wildlife of the arctic. The changes are evident across the Svalbard region, which has warmed by 5 degree Celsius in the past two decades. Longyearbyen, the once robust capital, now faces an existential crisis. The bus driver had summed it up perfectly. “Longyearbyen came into existence with the American John Munro Longyear setting up the Arctic Coal Company in 1906. The coal mines are long gone, but we are now facing the consequences of fossil fuel emissions.”