Norway village told not to drink the water
by editors@theworld.org (Joshua Coe) from The World: Latest Stories on (#79DX1)
The Norwegian village of Longyearbyen is one of the most remote settlements in the world. It's located on the Svalbard archipelago, a collection of islands way up in the Arctic Circle. Not an easy place to live, and now there's a new challenge for the 2,600 residents there: They've been told not to drink the tap water after tests found higher than average levels of heavy metals and contaminants in the local water supply. The suspected cause: the area's thawing permafrost due to climate change. Marjolaine Verret is an expert on permafrost at the University Centre in Svalbard. She spoke with Host Carolyn Beeler about what's going on.