"The Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard has become a key outpost for Arctic science. But geopolitical tensions are complicating research efforts"
"On Svalbard in Norway—A few years ago, Nil Rodes was tracking a remarkable phenomenon high above the Arctic Circle: hundreds of underwater methane seeps erupting like chimneys from the sea floor of a fjord here on the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, and Rodes, a marine geologist at the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), hoped to map the seeps in order to learn how much methane was escaping into the atmosphere and whether warming Arctic waters were accelerating the process. But in 2024, the Norwegian government began to deny requests from Rodes and others to conduct high-resolution seabed mapping on Svalbard, citing unspecified security concerns.
“It’s so frustrating. A Norwegian institution with a Norwegian ship cannot collect data in Norwegian waters,” says Riko Noormets, a UNIS marine geologist whose permits for teaching cruises and long-running studies of glacier-driven seafloor changes were denied. “A lot of research is now jeopardized.”"
