Beginnings

“The whole of the western coast is mountainous and picturesque; and though it is shone upon by a four months’ summer every year, its snowy covering is never wholly dissolved nor are its icy monuments of the dominion of frost ever removed.”

So said William Scoresby, in his 1820 publication, An Account of the Arctic Regions. And on the face of it, not much has changed. It was with these thoughts that I tiredly traipsed down the steps of my flight from Tromso at 0030, last Sunday. Or was it Monday?

Longyearbyen in (some) sunshine. But what time is it?

To be honest, I don’t really know; the Arctic summer is still here, just. The slightest tinge of a sunset around midnight seems to happen above the mountain of Plataberget, adjacent to Longyearbyen. I’m normally awake then, -the curtains in my room in Barrack 11, seem to defy the idea of staying closed, and will fall open just as I am drifting off to sleep, letting the daylight spill in once more.

For centuries now, people have been travelling north to Svalbard, in the pursuit of whales, mining, industry, scientific discovery, or maybe just some good old-fashioned adventure. Any of these predecessors who visited at this time of year, I am sure, would have been struck by the peculiarities of it being sunny (-sometimes anyway!) when it’s meant to be dark. This is something I can maybe share with all my historical polar antecedents. Yet, what I sadly cannot share with them is the scientific evidence of how our Polar environment is altering.

However, walking into the UNIS (The University Centre in Svalbard) building, in Longyearbyen, there is a buzz about the place; the study of polar science isn’t just a theme here, it’s an actively chosen lifestyle. The quest to understand and measure how the Arctic behaves and how it relates to our global environment as a whole is no stronger than it is here.  And to me, it’s stimulating and all-engrossing. Hopefully over the next few weeks and months this blog might try and help explain the whys and hows of being a student from SAMS (UHI), studying in the High Arctic. And put simply: What's it all about?

In the meantime, I think I’ll find a stapler for my curtains.