Photos stevewinter| Polar bears feed on the two-year-old remains of a whale carcass in Svalbard, Norway. The Arctic is melting four times as fast as earlier predictions—and I saw the effects everywhere on an expedition to Svalbard in August. The 2022 spring-summer Arctic melt season, when the sun never sets and sea ice retreats, has now ended as the days quickly shorten, with the far north heading back to full winter darkness. It wasn’t a record-breaking or news-making year for low ice extent—it ranked 10th, tying with 2017 and 2018—but it has been yet another consequential melt season. #arctic #polarbears #walrus #Svalbard.