Bettina Haupt station leader of the French German Arctic Research Base AWIPEV (2020-2021) at Ny-Ålesund, holds a weather balloon. For the past 30 years, every single day at local 12 pm, scientists launch a weather balloon at AWIPEV Atmospheric Observatory. The measurements show that Svalbard is the epicenter of global warming, where winter average temperatures increased by 6-8 Celsius since the measurement started. This increase is much faster than anywhere else on the planet. „I want to do as many projects as possible to understand this rapidly changing unique ecosystems of the Artic and Antarctic before they probably disappear. The smallest steps towards this goal counts. The changing of the climate concerns us all and will impact us all, it doesn’t know borders or breaks, but Artic is impacted by it the most. So studying the Artic gives us a small glimpse of a potential future on earth. The more knowledge we are getting now about our earth cooling system, the better might be our changes to survive as a species in the long run. On the other hand, I came for very selfish reasons here as well. I wish everyone could see this beautiful, rough and yet so fragile places, which seems to originate from another planet and time, so they would understand why it is so important to do whatever is possible to keep it not only for ourselves, but also for all the generations to come. So I call myself very lucky to be one of the few who can experience this place before it might be vanished. I experienced long missed moments of inner peace while looking with childlike astonished eyes at the polar lights in the rough snowy winds brightening my life." © Esther Horvath