Most days in the field I have on the following layers: undershirt, polypro longsleeve shirt, wool sweater, down vest, windproof fleece, winter jacket, wool hat, fingerless gloves, long underwear and snowpants. Still I'm left shivering in the wind, which blows cold off the 2 degree C ocean, and cooler when it rushes down the valley from the glaciers.

The funny thing is that the longer term residents keep saying that this has been an unusually warm summer, with temperatures up to 10 degrees C. The average July temperature is only 5 degrees C.

I wonder how people in an arctic coal mining town feel about global climate change? It's such a contradiction. They mine enough coal to heat and power the town. In addition they ship several barges a year to someplace in the world that doesn't have coal pouring out of the mountainsides at every turn. Every truckload that is mined and burnt contributes to the rise in atmospheric CO2 that is causing an increase in the rate of glacial retreat, changes in sea ice patterns which threatens polar bears and other arctic sea animals, and wide and varying effects on arctic vegetation. Every extra ton of coal burnt for the hotels and restaurants contributes to the demise of the very things tourists come to see. (Though maybe this can be justified on the basis that having people experience this landscape makes them more inclined to make choices that will help protect it.)

So how do people in a bitterly cold, touristy, coal-mining town feel about global climate change? If it comes down to how many layers they have to wear in the summer, they're probally all for it.