Climate change is causing rapid degradation of cultural heritage sites in the Arctic, particularly a 17th-century whalers' graveyard in the Svalbard archipelago, Norway. A study published in PLOS One by Lise Loktu from the Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research and Elin Therese Brødholt from Oslo University Hospital highlights the urgent threat posed by rising temperatures and coastal erosion. The researchers compared excavations from the 1980s and 2010s at the Likneset site and found a dramatic increase in erosional damage, especially to textiles and skeletal remains. The skeletal analysis revealed extensive physical stress and malnutrition among the whalers, indicating that many died young due to these conditions rather than trauma. The findings emphasize the need for updated Arctic cultural heritage policies to protect these vulnerable archaeological sites. The authors assert that as permafrost thaws and erosion accelerates, we are losing not just landscapes but also the invaluable human stories they contain, which can never be replaced.