[HN Gopher] Bearing Witness to Svalbard's Fragile Splendor
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       Bearing Witness to Svalbard's Fragile Splendor
        
       Author : Thevet
       Score  : 15 points
       Date   : 2021-12-06 18:09 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.nytimes.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.nytimes.com)
        
       | cellover wrote:
       | Imagine being a fisherman whose boat is blocked in the ice around
       | the Svalbard. Imagine going on foot on the island to find a
       | shelter and coming back the next day to find the ice has gone
       | away with your boat. Imagine having left a gun, 12 bullets and a
       | lighter. Imagine surviving this place during 6 years in the 18th
       | century.
       | 
       | That's what happened to 4 russians in 1743 and since I know this
       | story keeps me in total awe for this place.
       | 
       | https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/649587.Four_Against_the_...
        
       | jefflombardjr wrote:
       | You don't need to go that far to see fragile splendor. The
       | fragile splendor is here all around us. Svalbard is the canary in
       | the coal mine.
        
       | dheera wrote:
       | I visted Svalbard during the middle of polar night one year. It
       | was the first time in my life I didn't see the sun in a week.
       | 
       | https://www.instagram.com/p/CWUCCSHJpIg/
       | 
       | It was nothing short of awesome, spectacular, majestic, and
       | terrifying, all at the same time. The fact that within this town
       | of <2000 people, everything went about just as normal, even
       | without the sun -- with a couple of bars, restaurants, and a
       | supermarket -- yet just outside the borders of this town, for a
       | thousand kilometers in any direction there is practically
       | nothing, just the raw, wild, unforgiving arctic. No roads, no
       | cell reception, just nothing, just you and snow, and maybe some
       | hungry polar bears. (And yes, you aren't allowed to leave the
       | town without registering and carrying a rifle.)
        
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       (page generated 2021-12-07 23:02 UTC)