An early exit of Alaska’s spring snow means more acreage could burn during the coming wildfire season, which begins when the snow melts off, says new research from the University of Alaska Fairbanks “The most significant finding is that during many of the largest, most extreme fire seasons, we had early snowoff,” explained Peter Bieniek, […]
Ocean temperatures in the Bering Strait and heat transport through the region have increased over the past 20 years. New modeling using a range of temperatures shows that reduced regional September sea ice occurs one to three months after a heat increase. That’s the preliminary finding of research by University of Alaska Fairbanks doctoral student […]
Most of Earth’s near-surface permafrost could be gone by 2100, an international team of scientists has concluded after comparing current climate trends to the planet’s climate 3 million years ago. The team found that the amount of near-surface permafrost could drop by 93% compared to the preindustrial period of 1850 to 1900. That’s under the […]
Algae that commonly grow on snow in the Pacific Northwest have been ignored in melt models, but their presence significantly increases snowmelt compared with clean, white snow, according to a study conducted on Mount Baker in the North Cascades, Washington. Scientist Alia Khan at Western Washington University and the National Snow and Ice Data Center at […]