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- Svalbard, Norway
-Background
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- Northernmost territory in the world -
- 60% glaciers -
- 40% tundra -
- 5 main islands (largest is Spitzbergen) -
- Population of 2700 -
- More snowmobiles than people -
Opportunities
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- Coal mining
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- 300 jobs in coal mines -
- Backbone of economy -
- - Energy devlopment
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- Located near Mid-Atlantic Ridge - thin & hot rocks -
- Potential for geothermal energy to replace polluting coal power station -
- Or replace water in power station with CO2 -
- - Fishing
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- Barents Sea (South of Svalbard) is one of the richest fishing grounds in the world -
- 150 species of fish - conservation is vital -
- - Tourism
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- 70,000 people visited Longyearbyen in 2011 -
- Port was expanded to cope with tourist numbers -
- 300 jobs in tourism -
- Northen lights, natural environment and adventures attract tourists -
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Challenges
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- Extreme temperatures
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- Sometimes below -30°C -
- But wear warm clothes -
- - Construction
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- Permafrost has to be protected from melting before foundations can be dug -
- Difficult to build in the cold and the long dark periods - so most work is done in the summer -
- However, road maintenance is relatively easy -
- - Services
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- Pipes and cables must be kept off the ground, to ensure they don’t freeze -
- - Accessibility
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- Limited transport -
- Islands can only be accessed by plane or ship -
- Only 50 km of roads in Longyearbyen -
- But there is an international airport -
- And snowmobiles can be used to travel around -
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