Posts Near Utqiaġvik Map Timeline

The article describes a Utqiagvik family's significant milestone in catching the first bowhead whale of the spring season, amidst challenges posed by climate change affecting sea ice stability.

A survey is out and an open house is planned on May 14 for the Fairbanks North Star Borough's Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. A public survey is out, and an open house is planned for 4 p.m. May 14 at J.P. Jones Community Center in South Fairbanks.

After 100 highs, Utqiagvik marks record low temperature

Winters are getting shorter and summers are getting longer, a new comparison shows. In most regions of the U.S. and Canada, summer is about 6-10% longer and winter is about 7-11% shorter. In Alaska, winters are about 30% shorter than they were just a lifetime ago.

The United States’ northernmost city plummeted to a bone-chilling minus 20 degrees Wednesday morning, beating out the previous daily record set in 1973.

“I think it was a little more stable, and there was a little bit more assurance that the ice you were on was not going to disintegrate on you that easy,” said whaling captain Gordon Brower.

As their population grows worldwide, the birds are destroying the habitat of other waterfowl.

“Climate change is happening faster than it’s ever happened before in our record,” Utquiagvik-based NOAA scientist Bryan Thomas said. “We’re right in the middle of it.”

Sea ice has shrunk, but scientists are seeing signs that Alaska's bowhead whales are flourishing.

The ice conditions are similar to last year (with) lots of young ice and close leads," said Captain Frederick Brower. "We all went out and broke trail to the edge, but a high west wind came along and added about three-quarters to 1 mile of ice and (we) had to break trail through that and began whaling from the new edge ... . The conditions were not favorable but we made due with what we had and continued on with our whaling season."

The roughly 300 miles of hard-packed snow roads were constructed under the Community Winter Access Trails (CWAT) project, headed by the North Slope Borough.

With the average temperature hovering north of negative this winter, Utqiaġvik and much of the Arctic once again broke records with a season that didn't match up to historic expectations.

Air emissions from Prudhoe Bay-area oil fields can have a big influence on the particles in the air in Utqiaġvik, the town formerly known as Barrow.

4-29-14 Sea ice rescue - Barrow, Alaska, USA

The Far North's iconic polar bear appears to have joined the list of Arctic species afflicted with a mystery illness that causes hair loss, lesions and oozing sores. Six in Barrow and three in Kaktovik.