Background Articles

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 slide Sunday afternoon just above the Southeast Alaska city’s downtown sent tons of debris and mud onto a half-dozen homes, killing one person and injuring three.

Landslides have killed at least 12 Alaskans in the past decade and destroyed homes and critical infrastructure.

A new study shows how federal grant funding has actually become an obstacle to climate adaptation.

An additional half an inch of rain could fall through the end of the week as Anchorage is seeing one of its wettest summers on record.

In 2023, tularemia occurred in a wildlife volunteer after exposure to a deceased, infected harbor seal, the first known report of tularemia acquired through contact with a marine mammal, and the first detection of F. tularensis in a marine mammal.

The Northeast, which has warmed faster than the rest of the country, saw the biggest jump in mosquito days. Look up how mosquito season has changed in your town.

Findings from European scientists were published in a journal late last year.

During this summer, the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard has been melting five times faster than normal. "Svalbard is a hotspot for Arctic warming", experts warn.

A family with a 70-year history of setting nets in Cook Inlet has observed significant changes in salmon size and population, with a notable decrease in average earnings for fishermen.

Floodwaters from the Mendenhall River rushed under Sam and Amanda Hatch’s home last August at then record-levels. After the water receded, their house sank several inches into the saturated soil, shifting its foundations. As they rebuilt, the Hatch family decided to elevate their house by four feet on piers to avoid flooding in the future. Scraping together deals and favors, Sam Hatch said the whole process cost around $135,000. It was completed a month ago, he said.

The EPA settled with Red Dog Mine for failing to identify hazardous waste for over four years, marking the mine's largest violation in its 30-year operation.

As bird flu cases go underreported, health officials risk being slow to notice if the virus were to become more contagious. A large surge of infections outside of farmworker communities would trigger the government’s flu surveillance system, but by then it might be too late to contain.

Federal officials have recommended that Alaska get $78.9 million for projects to make coastal communities better prepared to address climate change.

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.

Sockeye salmon returning to Bristol Bay this year were, on average, the smallest the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has ever seen. So far, the average weight of Bristol Bay sockeye was 4.2 pounds this year. Fish and Game biologist Stacy Vega said that’s the smallest average weight on record.

Climate change is affecting nearly every aspect of life, said Gwich’in Council International board member Evon Taa’ąįį Peter, who is Neetsaii Gwich’in and Koyukon Athabascan. For one thing, he told ICT, more than 60% of the forest lands of the Alaskan Gwich’in nation have burned in wildfires in the past 10 years. As of July 10, 582,000 acres had burned this year in 328 wildfires in Alaska. “I couldn’t open the windows of my house for seven days straight, I think, because it would just let smoke billow into my home, which was already too unhealthy for us to be outside. So most of us just had to remain indoors…so there’s definitely very real dramatic and in-our-face impacts from climate change across the state, even in (an urban area like) Fairbanks,” Peter said.

Despite a general decrease in wildfires across B.C., the Dogtooth fire near Golden has destroyed structures and prompted evacuations, contrasting with the province's improving situation.

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.

Unusually large amounts of sea ice have brought more polar bears from Northeast to South Greenland, with many unable to return due to currents.