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 […]