Disney plans to shoot a climate change drama in Svalbard

Disneynature plans to film on the Norwegian Arctic archipelago from March to May.

When daylight returns to the high Arctic, a crew filming for Disneynature plans to head to Svalbard to document climate change there.

Local newspaper Svalbardposten reports that the film crew received permits from the Governor of Svalbard to land at three glaciers with personnel. The filming is also reported by Forbes.

PolarX logistics, a specialized film and TV production services firm, will assist Disneynature in the filming set to take place from March to May this year.

The company tells Svalbardposten that the project has “massive potential” to raise awareness about climate changes to a worldwide audience.

As previously reported by the Barents Observer, Svalbard has since 1971 experienced a winter warming of 7 degrees Celsius. In Longyearbyen, the main Norwegian settlement on the archipelago, people see their houses sagging as the ground underneath is thawing.

Precipitation in future years is expected to increasingly be more rain instead of snow. This will lead to increased combined snowmelt-, glacier melt- and rain-floods.

Isfjorden (The Ice fjord) next to Longyearbyen no longer freezes in winter, something that would have been unthinkable only a few decades ago.