Background Articles

The seafood industry around the world has faced market turmoil. Few Alaska communities have been hit harder than King Cove.

The ACAT report reveals that the Arctic Ocean Basin has the highest global concentration of microplastics, posing significant health risks to local wildlife and residents.

This research compiles over a century of local flood data in Alaska to improve future flood risk prediction and planning, addressing the lack of accessible historic flood information for community and regional use.

The melting of polar ice sheets due to climate change is causing Earth's rotation to slow down and its axis to shift, potentially surpassing the moon's influence on these dynamics and affecting technologies like GPS.

The long-term decline is believed to be due to the accumulated effects of fishing and unfavourable environmental conditions, such as high sea temperatures, according to the findings of independent experts based on Erpur Snær's data, who has been monitoring puffins for a long time.

Adult abundance “well below” fishery thresholds on both beaches. This outcome was not unanticipated, as the department said when opening the fishery in Ninilchik last year that adult abundance met necessary thresholds for allowing harvest — at least meeting or exceeding 50% of the historical average — but juvenile abundance was low, meaning there would likely not be enough adult clams this year or next.

Nome experienced a record-breaking influx of 1,800 cruise ship passengers from the MS Westerdam, enjoying a variety of local tours, cultural presentations, and the Berry Festival during their full-day port of call visit.

Alaska's impending water quality regulations may necessitate advanced treatment for contaminants like phthalates in wastewater, posing challenges for local systems to comply with stricter EPA standards.

The institute started monitoring the cyanobacteria situation at the beginning of June and will continue until the end of September.

The EPA is pushing Alaska to update water pollution rules due to Alaskans' high seafood consumption, with state officials acknowledging the need for revised standards.

While blue mussels are a traditional source of subsistence food in Unalaska, in recent years, reduced numbers and concerns about paralytic shellfish poisoning, or PSP, have limited the amount locals can safely harvest.

The sea level will probably rise along the entire coast of Norway. Stavanger is among the most vulnerable places.

Arctic communities and scientists report a crisis from increasing plastic waste, which contaminates traditional food sources and threatens the health of Alaska Native populations.

Russia's objection to U.S. claims off Alaska highlights tensions in maritime relations and underscores the U.S. disadvantage in territorial disputes due to its non-ratification of the Law of the Sea treaty.

Juneau implements a new daily limit of five large cruise ships to manage record-breaking tourism and address local concerns about traffic and quality of life.

It funds maps, sirens and education. "Losing this program, really, at the end of the day could mean deaths in Alaska," says a state official.

The years-long debate is taking on increasing urgency as subsistence harvesting bans continue and the policy responses under consideration threaten to impose steep costs on the industry.

Alaska researchers are developing a method to detect landslide-triggered tsunamis, aiming to provide early warnings for such unpredictable events.

Sea ice loss, warming waters and the northward expansion of fish species like pollock are all contributing to a pattern in the Bering Strait region known as “borealization.” That means the Arctic ecosystem is becoming more like the boreal region to the south.

Alaska's new Sustainable Energy Action Plan aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions and promote renewable energy, excluding oil industry cuts.