Background Articles

Alaska is experiencing rapid environmental changes, including record-high temperatures, shrinking sea ice, increased wildfires, and unusual wildlife patterns, such as the decline of salmon and the rise of snow goose populations.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game's preliminary report for 2024 shows a record low in Norton Sound's commercial fishery, with an exvessel value of $146,326 from a salmon harvest of 21,490. Statewide salmon harvests declined by 56% from the previous year.

An aerial survey of the Kuskokwim River reveals widespread thin ice and large open holes, raising safety concerns for nearby communities.

People living in West Dawson are urging the Yukon government to do more to support them while they wait for the Yukon River to freeze over, and provide them with reliable access to emergency services.

In Kotzebue, Alaska, local responders continue to repair over 50 properties severely damaged by a storm in October, focusing on essential infrastructure before winter begins.

A severe storm in Kotzebue, Alaska, caused significant flooding, displacing 80 people and damaging critical infrastructure, including roads and the airport.

The erosion that prompted Gov. Mike Dunleavy's action is advancing on the Northwest Alaska community's water lines.

Bethel high school students in the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program have taken up magnet fishing, retrieving over 50 bikes and various other items from Brown's Slough.

Researchers believe that if permafrost thaw continues at its current rate and mercury keeps being released, it could pose a real threat to many communities throughout northern and western Alaska.

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.

A new study found that the drying Great Salt Lake in Utah is now a major source of the gas emissions that are causing the climate to warm.

Blue-green algae blooms, exacerbated by climate change and nutrient runoff, are increasingly appearing in the Great Lakes, posing risks to human and environmental health.

German scientists from Alfred Wegener Institute are using classic planes to map and document the accelerating permafrost thaw in Northwest Alaska.

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.

Agrigento, a tourist destination in Sicily, is facing severe water shortages, leading to rationing and the turning away of tourists, impacting the local economy reliant on tourism and agriculture.

As the US grapples with extreme heat, floodwaters force evacuations in the Midwest, including a submerged Iowa town.

Yellowknife is using water from Yellowknife Bay to refill its reservoirs due to unusually high outflow rates at a pumphouse, the cause of which is under investigation.

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