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Spellbinding polar night gets darker in warming Arctic

Svalbard Kirke member Lars-Olav Tunheim checks his phone while climbing Plataberget mountain at midday, in Longyearbyen, Norway, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Coal miners refill a machine with oil at the bottom of the Gruve 7 coal mine in Adventdalen, Norway, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

The Svalbard Kirke cabin lights up the polar night in Bolterdalen, Norway, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. So close to the North Pole the sun is at least six degrees below the horizon from mid-November through the end of January. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

A sign signals the danger of polar bears at the edge of Longyearbyen, Norway, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. To go anywhere beyond the limits of Longyearbyen, people are advised to have protection, like a flare gun and firearm, a warning that locals take very seriously. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Lights in the polar night sky illuminate a peak of the Plataberget mountain in Longyearbyen, Norway, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023. So close to the North Pole the sun is at least six degrees below the horizon from mid-November through the end of January. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

A portrait of a family running along a beach is pictured through the window of a cabin in Longyearbyen, Norway, Thursday, Jan. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

A crew member of the governor's boat oversees docking in Longyearbyen, Norway, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Children from the Barentsburg school perform in white costumes to celebrate Orthodox Christmas in Barentsburg, Norway, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Windows light up the polar night in Longyearbyen, Norway, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. So close to the North Pole the sun is at least six degrees below the horizon from mid-November through the end of January. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

A dog sledder returns to a dog yard after training puppies to sled in Bolterdalen, Norway, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. As Karina Bernlow's dogsledding pups happily played in the swirling snow on a mid-January afternoon, she also feared the prospect of warmer seasons. "A muddy winter, I can't live in that," said Bernlow, who runs dogsledding outfit Green Dog with her family in a broad valley outside Longyearbyen. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

The Rev. Siv Limstrand walks with her rifle to the church's cabin in Bolterdalen, Norway, Monday, Jan. 9, 2023. For the lone pastor in this fragile, starkly beautiful environment, the challenge is to fulfill the church's historical mission of ministering to those in crisis while addressing a pressing and divisive contemporary challenge. "We pray every Sunday for everyone who's affected by climate change," Limstrand said. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

A skier moves along a lit pathway during the polar night in Longyearbyen, Norway, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. So close to the North Pole the sun is at least six degrees below the horizon from mid-November through the end of January. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Moonlight is reflected along the surface of a fjord during the polar night in Norway, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. "First time in Svalbard, it was like coming to the moon," said the Rev. Leif Magne Helgesen, who spent a dozen years in the main village of Longyearbyen as the pastor of its only church, Svalbard Kirke. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Spotlights from the governor's boat light the horizon during a journey from Longyearbyen to Barentsburg, Norway, Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023. It was carrying the children's choir from Longyearbyen's only church, Svalbard Kirke, to visit the even more isolated Arctic outpost of Barentsburg, which is run by a Russian mining company. (AP Photo/Daniel Cole)

Spellbinding polar night gets darker in warming Arctic