Background Articles

The definition of farming has expanded over time from soil-only planting and harvesting to include farmers that harvest from the sea. Along the coast, kelp f...

Drifting icebergs can conflict with navigation routes and cause hazards for coastal communities and ships. Climate change is creating more ice shelf break-off than ever and scientists are keeping track of drifting patterns as a result.

UAF graduate student Reyce Bogardus talks about sea ice, storms and coastal erosion at Nelson Lagoon, which is on the southernmost edge of the historical max...

In recent years, polar bears in the Beaufort Sea have had to travel far outside of their traditional arctic hunting grounds which has contributed to an almost 30% decrease in their population.

Researchers say warmer waters themselves aren’t killing crabs, but they may be allowing predators to move in and disease to spread more easily.

Researchers warn the shift can have dire consequences for animals, like penguins, who breed and rear their young on the sea ice while also hastening global warming by reducing how much sunlight is reflected by white ice back into space.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game announced it was closing the 2023-24 Bering Sea snow crab season for the second season in a row.

Between 2017 and 2019, pollock surveys in the Gulf of Alaska produced wildly different estimates. A new study shows what climate-driven mismatch in pollock surveys for sustainable fisheries management.

Coccolithophores and the carbon cycle Increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations are resulting in both warmer sea surface temperatures due to the

Scientists have documented an increase in abundance of harmful algal blooms in the Northern Bering and Chukchi Seas.

Widespread mortality of Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. returning to spawn in Alaska coincided with record-breaking air temperatures and prolonged drought in summer 2019.

Climate change is rapidly melting away the world’s frozen regions, with summertime Arctic sea ice sure to vanish by 2050, according to a report published on Monday. In just this year, rains fell on East Antarctica in March, as air temperatures were unusually warm. During the summer, the Alps lost 5

For more than a decade, the city of Kotzebue has been planning to establish a deep-water port facility out at Cape Blossom, about 11 miles south of Kotzebue. A new road to the port would allow goods to be delivered to town, without the lightering fee.

The Norwegian Public Roads Administration and Torghatten Nord have signed an agreement on Norway’s first full-scale hydrogen ferry which allows for CO2 emission cuts equaling 13,000 diesel-fueled cars per year.

Powerful underwater explosions were detected in the Baltic Sea at the end of September, near the Danish island of Bornholm. Explosive substances were found on several of the objects encountered during the crime scene investigation in the Baltic Sea, Swedish security police say.

The clam population crashed on the east side of Cook Inlet about a decade ago and has been slow to bounce back.

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.

The scientist noted that the amount of phosphorus, which is essential for cyanobacterial growth, in the Gulf has dropped by around 60 percent compared to their worst, peak levels.

The specific "medical" smell of whale meat may be caused by liver disease or the animals' diet. Chukchi Sea hunters began noticing the pungent, unpleasant smell in some whales about 20 years ago. Recently, the number of stinky whales has increased. Scientists with Beringia National Park analyzed the isotopic composition in 46 samples of gray whales. “Stinky” whales had significantly lower levels of heavy nitrogen. Scientists still must understand whether this is a result of liver disease or a diet based on algae. Scientists hope to study more high-quality samples of “stinky” whales.

Two resolutions brought before the Alaska Federation of Natives during this year’s annual convention called for efforts to reduce salmon bycatch for fish that return to the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers.