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My World Is Melting
Living with Climate Change in Svalbard
Line Nagell Ylvisåker (Author), Kelsey Camacho (Translated by)
9780299357344, University of Wisconsin Press
Paperback / softback, published 5 May 2026
190 pages
21.6 x 14 x 1.5 cm, 0.286 kg
Praise for the Norwegian edition: Praise for the German edition: "[Ylvisåker's] portrait of residents pinched between floods and receding sea ice is a testament to their love of this vulnerable land that is their home." "My World Is Melting is a sobering look at real-time shifts in an Arctic community and the resulting impacts on its residents. Yet, as Ylvisåker writes, 'A part of me clings to the hope that many of the scientists are wrong and that the globe has a magic climate trick up its sleeve.'" "Elegant. . . . Visceral descriptions of scarred landscapes in the aftermath of avalanches and floods merge with the author's angst at realizing her world is not only changing but becoming more dangerous. This heartbreaking account mourns the passing of a lost world." "Enlightening. . . . Compelling depictions of the disruptions impacting human settlements, terrain, and wildlife underscore the urgency of addressing climate change while also acknowledging the complexity of finding solutions. My World Is Melting is a fascinating essay collection about life on a remote Norwegian island and the startling impacts of climate change on Arctic communities and ecosystems." "Astute and stirring. . . . This blend of reportage and rumination makes for an absorbing and crucial read on a topic of increasing significance." "In prose as clear and evocative as the ice that's disappearing from her home, Ylvisåker (in Kelsey Camacho's superb translation) offers an alarming yet hopeful account of how the effects of climate change—from deadly avalanches to tragic polar bear attacks—are reshaping some of Norway's most imperiled places." "Touching and powerful, about changes that affect us all."
"In Ylvisåker's book, the personal experience of the environmental changes is an excellent framework for communicating. . . . This easy-to-read and engaging book should have great potential to create understanding for the seriousness of the situation."
"A documentary page turner."
"A gripping, forceful plea against the climate catastrophe."
"A report from the front on the fight against climate change, enlightening and touching."
In 2015, a massive avalanche descended on the small Arctic Norwegian city of Longyearbyen, Svalbard, leveling eleven houses and killing a two-year-old girl and a young father. It was a tragic natural disaster but one that was becoming increasingly and alarmingly common for citizens of Svalbard, like journalist Line Nagell YlvisÅker. In her arresting book My World Is Melting, YlvisÅker explores the effects of a warming planet up close and personal, from inside a remote community intimately attuned to its environment.
YlvisÅker introduces readers to her friends and neighbors, including dedicated meteorologists racing to anticipate future disasters and a veteran trapper who harbors doubts about climate change even as he bears witness to a constantly shifting landscape. Blending memoir, long-form journalism, and scientific reportage, she provides an intimate picture of life in a place where the effects of climate change can be seen in all their startling reality—and a compelling and hopeful argument for collective and cooperative action across the globe.
Preface
Falling Down
A Black, Wet Autumn and New Avalanches
Sleep, Little Sprout
Climate on Speed
The Town
The Trapper and the Pope
Essential Stardust
The Mountain
Trees of Stone
A Great Paradox
Royal Unrest
The Sea, the Fjords, and the Ice That Disappeared
Plants in Ice and Permafrost
Almost a Gummy Bear
Grandmother in the Snowstorm
Can’
t Make Everything Safe
Into Safe Houses
Three Years After Surviving the Avalanche
Afterword
Update: The Warmest Summer
Acknowledgments
Sources