Denali National Park has closed to visitors due to the rapidly spreading Riley Fire near its entrance, prompting evacuations and a significant firefighting response.
Hikers on Kesugi Ridge observe a large abundance of Rusty Tussock Caterpillars all over cairns marking the trail from Coal Creek to Byre's Lake. They swarmed on the hiker's bodies and packs and from a distance covered structures to the point where they looked black.
For the first time since the 1950s, Denali's Muldrow Glacier is surging! It is estimated that the glacier is currently advancing between 10-20 meters (30-60 ft) a day. This has major implications for the popular north side climbing route, and may lead to a significant flood of the McKinley River. The surge may have started as early as January of this year and could continue for several more months.
The answer to the Tang-colored mystery involves tiny spruce needle rust fungus spores that also rely on Labrador tea plants to survive.
Small spiny growths on a rosebush resemble spiny galls created by cynipid wasps.
The wildfires can burrow into rich organic material, such as the vast peatlands that ring the Arctic, and smolder under the snowpack throughout the frigid winter.
The River Forecast Center released their spring breakup forecast for 2020. Flood potential is expected to be above average for areas south of the Brooks Range. Areas of north of the Brooks Range should see a normal flood potential.
"My family and I have been RV camping across Alaska for the last several years. This year, the mass amounts of dead spruce trees have been more apparent than any year prior."
There are over one hundred and forty landslides along the Denali Park road, the 92 mile road through Denali National Park and Preserve. None are more threatening than the Pretty Rocks Landslide at Polychrome Pass.
Kettle ponds in Denali National Park contain less water this spring than in previous years, due to low snowfall and permafrost thaw. Shrubs are replacing grasses as the lakes dry.
State Veterinarian Bob Gerlach told a crowd that turned out Saturday for the 46th Annual Delta Farm Forum that diseases that afflict livestock and wildlife are increasingly showing up in Alaska. Listen now
Beetles that killed millions of acres of trees in the 1990s were a first sign of climate change. In a new flare-up, they continue marching north as Alaska warms.
The state Department of Fish and Game is warning pet owners in the Interior and Southcentral Alaska about a recent spike in reports of tularemia – sometimes called “rabbit fever.”
These ticks may have been an example of one native species in Alaska.
Of the 140 unstable slopes along the 92-mile park road, Pretty Rocks has the most potential to disrupt traffic.
John Craighead "Craig" George was swept under a logjam last Wednesday on the Chulitna River near Cantwell, Alaska State Troopers said. The dive team responded to the area Friday morning but found that the water was too high to deploy.The rafting party was decending when they encountered an unusual amount of logjams.
The aggressive infestation that took hold in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough north of Anchorage in 2016 has now spread north, covering hillsides in the communities outside the park with rustred dead trees and reaching into park boundaries.
A worker in Kantishna glimpsed the rare phenomenon in which hundreds of Alaska gnat snakeworm larvae formed a crawling column.
The glacier advanced just over 3.5 miles and moved about 65 feet per day earlier this year. Studying the surge involved a massive undertaking.
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