The Northernmost Town on Earth (Svalbard in 4K)
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Longyearbyen on Svalbard is the northernmost settlement with over 1000 residents I was nominated for a Webby! Please vote: http://bit.ly/VeWebby My trip to Norway was funded by Screen Australia, Film Victoria and Genepool Productions as part of a new project. More information soon. More info on Svalbard: http://wke.lt/w/s/yiYNC Music licensed from www.cuesongs.com "After Catalunya" Spotify page: https://play.spotify.com/artist/2JnQ2AxkaRjlGCNmfkHiJd iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/artist/emphemetry/id414183064 Captions: Come take a walk with me around Longyearbyen, the largest town on the Norwegian islands of Svalbard. Parts of it look familiar, but make no mistake, this place is different. At 78 degrees North, it lies just 800 miles or 1300 kilometres from the North Pole. And with over 2,000 permanent inhabitants it is the Northernmost real town on Earth. There are only 50km of road, including the small streets between houses, so people get around the island mainly on snowmobile. In fact there are more registered snowmobiles than residents. Anyone leaving town is required to travel with a gun and someone who knows how to use it because the islands are also home to polar bears. The average daytime high is below freezing for all but four months of the year, and from the end of October to mid-February the sun doesn’t rise at all. This is the long polar night. Living here is tough. This past December an avalanche in town destroyed 10 homes, which used to be here, killing two people. So how did this cold, remote, ice-covered archipelago come to be inhabited? The hills around town are rich in coal deposits that have been mined for over 100 years. The coal was transported to the port via a series of aerial tramways some of which remain today, though they are no longer operational. Coal is a reminder that Svalbard was not always an Arctic ice world. 360 million years ago it was actually in the tropics North of the equator. A swampy area, it was covered with the precursors to modern ferns, which were much larger than they are today, reaching 10-30 metres in height. This vegetation was then covered in mud and sand and submerged under the sea. Over time it turned into the coal deposits that in the 20th century brought miners from Norway, Russia, and the US. Most of the coal mines have now closed and the economy is gradually shifting towards tourism, education and research. Tourists take trips on snowmobiles and dog sleds. There is a university centre in Svalbard, which offers semester courses in biology, physics and geology. And up on the side of a mountain is the Svalbard Global seed vault… but that’s a story for another time. The locals tell me that interest in the region from different nations is increasing. As the globe warms and Arctic ice shrinks, trade routes are opening up across the North. And Svalbard is strategically placed between North America, Asia and Europe. One day in the future Svalbard may no longer be as cold or remote as it once was. But for now it is a reminder of how through our ingenuity people can live in the most inhospitable of places. Shot with a DJI Phantom 4 drone
Comments
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2:31 he's holding a drone remote
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Looks like a perfect place for anyone who wants to avoid pollution
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I might want to move there
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I don't see how anyone could dislike such a beautiful piece of art. The filming and quality of the video super cedes almost all documentaries and informative/explanatory videos I have ever seen. The amount of effort put it this video really shows. From the beautiful shots of the landscape not only of the town but of the surrounding area. The information was really well spaced out, and flowed well with the video. Although some people may like very fast paced information, the overall flow of this video is perfect. A very well made blend between cinematic and information. Well done Derek.
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Love it. I keep returning to watch it from time to time.
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Those ghostly, snow-covered peaks across the inlet are eerier than a Lawren Harris painting.
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ive been there 2 times :D
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how's the internet there ?
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How's the internet there ?
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fantastic video, excellent, another clip that makes us see the beauty of our planet
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Beautiful video and music/commentary .
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6:02 DJI Phantom?
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I hate modern looking buildings. They ruin everything.
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Where do they get food from?
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Such fantastic work on a truly beautiful place!
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Oh my god. This is spectacular.
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Beautiful <3
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The actual Northernmost town(well more of just a settlement) on Earth is actually Alert in Canada
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That white Mercedes-Benz at 3:21 is actually for sale at finn.no: https://m.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=66471603
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ayy, finally an area as cold as my ex's heart!
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