On Thin Ice

Arctic Calling

There is widespread consensus in the world of climate communications that conflict metaphors should be avoided. There are several reasons behind this. If we are constantly “fighting” climate change, it means there will be a winner and a loser.  

This kind of vocabulary perpetuates a constant sense of urgency and violence that can elicit fatigue in the audience (same happens with real wars). It also leaves little room for solution-focused approaches. REVOLVE helps fill this solutions gap.  

That said, Svalbard is most certainly on the frontlines of climate change. This is not just a metaphorical statement, but also a geographical one. The 2,000 permanent residents of Longyearbyen – the world’s northernmost town – are having to adapt as their tap water becomes undrinkable due to minerals and metals released by permafrost thawing caused by general global warming. 

It is climate change arriving through pipes, says Arctic climate expert, Professor Emeritus Kim Holmén, in our Special Guest Editorial (‘Change is a Verb’, p.8).   

On behalf of REVOLVE, I visited the archipelago in late winter (22-27 February 2026) to join a team of scientists dedicated to understanding the consequences of rapidly retreating glaciers, permafrost thaw, and new groundwater springs in one of the world’s fastest warming regions. The Arctic is generally warming four times as fast as other regions of the globe. (‘Svalbard – Canary in the Coal Mine’, p. 10). 

The trip took us from the factory floor of the local brewery, where as well as beer they now produce pure water, to the remote snow-covered valleys of Spitsbergen, and deep into the ice cave arteries of a sickly glacier. We found groundwater springs that continue to flow in the dead of winter and noted measurements of shocking annual snow cover decline.  

Sentence all climate skeptics to a week in Svalbard. Here, the changes unfold before your very eyes.  

We hope you enjoy reading REVOLVE and send us your comments at:  

editors@revolve.media  

Jake Threadgould  

Editor-in-Chief

Inside this issue

Editorial

Change is a Verb – The ever-changing planet

Features

Canary in a Coal Mine – Svalbard’s rapidly changing climate

Senegal’s Future – The role of women and youth in farming 

Moo-ving Around – The perks of regenerative grazing 

Sharing Is Caring – Sparking new energy governance

Feeling the Heat – Jordan’s rain-fed olive conundrum

Future Fuels – Ports are being left in wake of ship advances

VIEWS

Fishing Traditions – In the shadow of Guatemala’s shrimp farms 

Under the Sea – Saving Tanzania’s corals

Interview

The Unrecyclable – Progress in waste circularity 

Between

Life That Ran Away – Solar by Ian McEwan