There are fears the archipelago may no longer be a viable place to live, with ice melting and glaciers retreating at an alarming rate. SVALBARD: Svalbard, a group of islands in the Arctic, is warming at a much faster rate than the global average, raising fundamental questions about the future of the 2,500 people who call the place home. Climate change is expected to pose significant challenges for communities in the Norwegian archipelago, a frozen and hostile environment where survival is difficult, observers said. Temperatures are rising rapidly on Svalbard, which lies deep inside the Arctic Circle between Norway and the North Pole. Scientists have found that ice is melting and glaciers are retreating at an alarming rate, and are trying to understand what these changes mean for the future of the Earth. ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS ALSO ON THE MOUNTAINS. The Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the world. Temperatures are rising even faster in Svalbard, reaching seven times the global average. This means increasing environmental risks for the people who live and work there. The loss of sea ice means polar bears are hungrier and are starting to move closer to human settlements in search of food. Guide Mans Gullgren saw firsthand the impact climate change had on the Svalbard glaciers. "The part of the glacier where I've been working since 2011 has retreated by more than 1 km, and that's just in length. So it's also probably about 35 meters of height that's been lost," said the expedition leader. "Unfortunately, I think people are going to have to be affected before things start happening, and it's probably going to have to be the West that's affected because we're the ones that pollute the most." (Calving Yang, CNA)