Background Articles

In addition to blizzard conditions, Kotzebue residents have been experiencing power outages, water service interruptions and travel complications because of the storms.

Garbage and wood were removed by the municipal services of the village of Rytkuchi of the Pevek urban district from the coastline and tundra near the settlement. This was the final stage of a large-scale clean-up, which began in the summer after a strong storm.

Three weeks after ex-typhoon Merbok hit Western Alaska and breached the Nome-Council Road, Department of Transportation crews and local contractors finished their repairs.

Golovin was hurt worse than other places in the Norton Sound region by the remnants of typhoon Merbok as it swirled up through Bering Sea last weekend. Repairing the damage is going to take time — and the clock is ticking on winter’s arrival.

The powerful remnants of Typhoon Merbok pounded Alaska’s western coast on Sept. 17, 2022, pushing homes off their foundations and tearing apart protective berms as water flooded communities. Storms aren’t unusual here, but Merbok built up over unusually warm water. Its waves reached 50 feet over the Bering Sea, and its storm surge sent water levels into communities at near record highs along with near hurricane-force winds.

If that saying about Jan. 1 setting the tone for the year to come has any truth to it, 2022 is going to be a wild ride.

A University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist said that the reason why Western Alaska is getting windier is that it will soon inherit the Aleutian Islands’ storms. In today’s climate, the Aleutian islands are the windiest area in Alaska.

It will become clearer in the coming days how the sunken barge owned by Laxa aquaculture in Reyðarfjörður, East Iceland, will be re-floated after this weekend’s storm. Divers are working on the vessel again today and, so far, it appears no diesel or other oil has leaked into the sea.

For decades, efforts have been underway to tame the effects of erosion on the Magdalen Islands, an archipelago in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. But the effects of climate change left these tiny islands vulnerable when it came to facing two powerful and unpredictable storms in less than a year.

Following Hurricane Dorian, large parts of the Bahamas have been left in a state of ruin, made unlivable to the hundreds of thousands of people who have called the islands their home.

Warmer seas have led the fishery to move 300 kilometers further northeast - towards the North Pole. At the same time, cruising traffic in the outlying sea areas is increasing.

Climate change is ravaging the natural laboratory that inspired Darwin. The creatures here are on the brink of crisis.

A new report points to harsher more severe weather incidents happening in our province.

Bad weather is bad news, also for the red-listed kittiwake. New research reveals that wind conditions combined with the availability of different prey species are determinants of chick production in this seabird.

From Longyearbyen to Kiribati, Bangladesh and California. Author Teresa Grøtan has collected young people's everyday life with climate change in the book "Before the Island Sink."

Alberta consistently sees an average of 1400 wildfires each year however, the increased economic costs due to firefighting, equipment, damaged properties, evacuations, insurance, remote housing and food can be a challenge.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has disbursed $3.3 million to help Western Alaskans rebuild after ex-typhoon Merbok struck the coast a month ago.

Shaktoolik, a village in Alaska, is still waiting for aid from FEMA to rebuild a protective berm that was destroyed by a typhoon, leaving the community vulnerable to storms and erosion.

"Talk of Alaska discusses the science behind landslide risk and early warning systems in the wake of Wrangell's third deadly landslide since 2015."