It is one of science’s burning questions: Will the melting Arctic ice reveal a Northwest Passage – the very thing Captain Cook sought but never found? The foremost British explorer of the 18th century, Captain James Cook circumnavigated the globe twice before setting a course for the North Pacific. Mostly celebrated for his explorations of […]
For Arctic marine mammals, the future is especially uncertain. Loss of sea ice and warming temperatures are shifting already fragile Northern ecosystems. The precarious state of those mammals is underscored in a multinational study led by a University of Washington scientist, published this week in Conservation Biology, assessing the status of all circumpolar species and […]
As he contemplates another long snowmachine journey, Matthew Sturm might consider packing a raincoat. Rain fell in Interior Alaska a few weeks before his trip, glazing supercooled highways and forming a crust on the snowpack. “You remember all the jokes about how climate change is going to be good for (Alaskans)?” said Sturm, a snow […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Lisa Murkowski Wednesday questioned United States Army Chief of Staff General Raymond Odierno about the recent surge in Russian military activity in the Arctic region. In light of the regional volatility and the Pentagon’s heightened focus on the Asia-Pacific region, Murkowski questioned the reasoning behind the proposal to potentially draw down […]