A circular scar on Alaska’s face speaks to an event that may have contributed to the fall of societies on the far side of the world. Two thousand years ago, Alaska’s Mount Okmok volcano spewed ash high into the atmosphere, for months. Today, a crater 6 miles from rim to rim marks ground zero on […]
A type of cloud that forms low near Alaska’s northern coast and over the Arctic Ocean lasts far longer than scientific understanding says it should. Associate research professor Carl Schmitt is helping a federally funded research team figure out why it’s happening. The work is important to a variety of interests, including forecasting, shipping, defense […]
In the near future, Juneau’s Mendenhall Glacier will withdraw its icy toe from the lake of its making, scientists say. “The lake is about to not have a glacier in it,” said hydrologist Eran Hood of the University of Alaska Southeast in Juneau. “Within the next few years is my guess.” Hood is part of […]
In a new study, a team of geologists and biologists led by CU Boulder resurrected ancient microbes that had been trapped in ice—in some cases for around 40,000 years. The study is a showcase for the planet’s permafrost. That’s the name for a frozen mix of soil, ice and rocks that underlies nearly a quarter of […]