Environmental changes in Svalbard since the termination of the Little Ice Age: Towards a warmer and less icy future
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60076658%3A12310%2F25%3A43910551" target="_blank" >RIV/60076658:12310/25:43910551 - isvavai.cz</a>
Alternative codes found
RIV/00216224:14310/25:00143509
Result on the web
<a href="https://journals.muni.cz/CPR/article/view/42695" target="_blank" >https://journals.muni.cz/CPR/article/view/42695</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5817/CPR2025-S-4" target="_blank" >10.5817/CPR2025-S-4</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Environmental changes in Svalbard since the termination of the Little Ice Age: Towards a warmer and less icy future
Original language description
Svalbard has experienced significant warming since the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA; around 1900 CE). Since the LIA, air temperatures have risen almost continuously, with even more accelerated warming trend recorded in recent decades. These climatic shifts have had serious impacts, particularly on the cryosphere but also on landscape dynamics, through an accelerated hydrological cycle and the intensification of various geomorphic processes. Surprisingly, Svalbard experienced a warmer climate for much of the Holocene compared to today, with only a few colder periods, the most pronounced being the LIA. In other words, Svalbard, as it was known to early polar explorers at the end of the 19th century, was at its maximum Holocene glacier extent. Nowadays, the environment is returning to its usual mode of operation, with a less glaciated landscape. However, the current rate of change is unprecedented. Here, we document the most striking landscape changes with a series of repeated photographs, comparing the landscape at the glacier's maximum extent (in 1908) with photographs taken at the same locations recently. We demonstrate the rapid evolution of glacier-connected geosystems and intense paraglaciation, where glacier-dominated processes are being replaced by fluvial, slope or aeolian forces. In contrast, landscapes that were not directly connected to glaciers appeared relatively stable and resilient to climatic forcings. As the landscape seeks to reach a new equilibrium after glacier retreat, this also triggers various natural hazards, such as slope failures, avalanches and floods, that may pose risks to human society and infrastructure. Together with the massive thawing of permafrost, these changes could endanger economic activities, tourism and even the traditional way of life of Indigenous communities in the Arctic.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
10618 - Ecology
Result continuities
Project
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Continuities
I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace
Others
Publication year
2025
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Czech Polar Reports
ISSN
1805-0689
e-ISSN
1805-0697
Volume of the periodical
15
Issue of the periodical within the volume
2025
Country of publishing house
CZ - CZECH REPUBLIC
Number of pages
26
Pages from-to
68-93
UT code for WoS article
001656303100004
EID of the result in the Scopus database
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