The polar environment has been in the focus of international research for decades, both because of the fascinating natural phenomena such as the aurora, and because of its particular vulnerability to global change caused far away from this region.

This became evident already in the 1950s and 60s, when Arctic haze was discovered and later connected to pollution emissions at middle and low latitudes. NILU was one of the first institutes to study this phenomenon at Svalbard, in the late 1970s, and arranged the first international conference on the issue in 1978. Ever since, long-range transport of pollution to the polar regions has been a hot topic of research and environmental management, and NILU has been a key player in these efforts.   Read More

Scientists from the United States, Norway, and Finland aboard the R/V Knorr have now ended their 5 weeks cruise from the United States to Iceland via Tromsø, Svalbard, and the Greenland Sea.   Read More

Zeppelin Observatory is the foremost Norwegian atmospheric monitoring facility and part of the largest Arctic research infrastructure: The Ny-Ålesund international cluster of research stations.   Read More