The Norwegian Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard have become fatter and healthier despite significant sea ice loss due to climate change.

A study published in Scientific Reports on January 29, 2026, analyzed body condition data from 770 adult polar bears between 1992 and 2019.

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Scientists expected the opposite, but polar bears in the Norwegian Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard have become fatter and healthier since the early 1990s, all while sea ice has steadily declined due to climate change.

Polar bears rely on sea ice as a platform from which to hunt the seals that they rely on for blubber-rich meals. The bears’ fat reserves provide energy and insulation and allow mothers to produce rich milk for cubs. The BBC has the story.

Researchers weighed and measured 770 adults in Svalbard between 1992 and 2019 and found that bears had become significantly fatter.

They think that Svalbard bears have adapted to recent ice loss by eating more land-based prey, including reindeer and walruses.

The discovery, published in Scientific Reports, was particularly puzzling because of the impact of climate change in Svalbard.

During the same period that this research was carried out, global temperature rise has reduced the number of ice-free days per year in the region by almost 100 – at a rate of about four days each year.

“The fatter a bear is the better it is,” explained lead researcher Dr Jon Aars from the Norwegian Polar Institute.

“And I would have expected to see a decline in body condition when the loss of sea ice has been so profound.”

“And I would have expected to see a decline in body condition when the loss of sea ice has been so profound.”

Walruses have been officially protected in Norway since the 1950s, after they were hunted to near extinction. That protection has boosted their numbers and apparently provided a new source of fatty food for polar bears.

Read the full story here.