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Climate change is happening many times faster in the Arctic than on the rest of the planet. This is illustrated for example by the increasing melting of the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean in summers. The Arctic is an excellent location for observing the northern lights. Under the right conditions spectacular displays of green, pink and red light can be seen at altitudes in the range 90 to 300 km. Energetic particles from the Sun interact with Earth’s magnetic field and are accelerated toward Earth’s surface colliding with the constituents of the atmosphere, which leads to emissions that can be seen with the naked eye. Solar activity follows an approximately 11-year cycle which is expected to peak in 2025 leading to increased auroral activity both in the Arctic and at latitudes further south. At solar maximum we can also expect both powerful solar flares and high energy coronal mass ejections. The associated space weather effects can be damaging to space infrastructure which society has become increasingly dependent on and cause geomagnetic storms that can lead to disturbances on the ground.