March 31, 2021 (Juneau, AK) – Alaska’s Congressional Delegation issued the following statements in support of Governor Mike Dunleavy’s move to exert control over Alaska lands and waters. “I know Alaskans to be responsible stewards of our precious environment, which is why Alaska is correct to assert management over navigable waterways,” said Congressman Don Young. […]
A University of Alaska Fairbanks-led research team has developed a way to use satellite images to determine the amount of methane being released from northern lakes, a technique that could help climate change modelers better account for this potent greenhouse gas. By using synthetic aperture radar, or SAR, researchers were able to find a […]
A new Simon Fraser University-led study looking at the effects that glacier retreat will have on western North American Pacific salmon predicts that while some salmon populations may struggle, others may benefit. The research, published today in the journal BioScience, examined the multiple ways in which salmon might be affected by climate-change driven glacier retreat […]
Adult sockeye salmon returning to spawn in the lakes of Bristol Bay, Alaska.Jason Ching/University of Washington An ample buffet of freshwater food, brought on by climate change, is altering the life history of one of the world’s most important salmon species. Sockeye salmon in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region are skipping an entire year […]
Anchorage, AK –Pilots landing CAP floatplanes or their personal aircraft on water ways are vigilant to check the surface for boats, logs, sandbars, and other impediments to safety. Now, Southcentral Alaskan lakes have a new hazard to avoid: ELODEA. Pilots are encouraged to be attentive to Emergency Order 2-NP-2-16-19 (https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/Static-sf/EONR/PDFs/2019/R2/EO%202-NP-2-16-19%20Alexander_final.pdf) regarding the water bodies […]
Northeast Alaska’s Yukon Flats region, seen with fall colors.David Butman/University of Washington The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet. One consequence of that trend is the thawing of permafrost, a layer of earth that has remained frozen for thousands of years in some areas. This frozen soil and vegetation […]
New NASA-funded research has discovered that Arctic permafrost’s expected gradual thawing and the associated release of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere may actually be sped up by instances of a relatively little known process called abrupt thawing. Abrupt thawing takes place under a certain type of Arctic lake, known as a thermokarst lake that forms […]
Plants and soil in the Arctic tundra absorb and store mercury released into the atmosphere by industry and mining in the Earth’s temperate regions, leading to soil mercury levels five times higher than in lower latitudes, according to a new study by researchers supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The research was published this […]
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – Melvin C. McLaurin of Chicago was identified as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employee killed in a construction accident June 19 at North Pole. McLaurin worked as an engineering equipment operator lead with the Corps’ Chicago District. He was on a temporary assignment in support of the Corps’ Alaska […]