NASA projects tracking changes in Alaska’s glaciers and Arctic atmosphere
The U.S. agency that explores outer space is also probing another frontier — the rapidly warming climate in Alaska and
Read more
Author: Yereth Rosen, Alaska Dispatch News
U.S. icebreaker fleet will need makeover by about 2020, Coast Guard says
The U.S. Coast Guard’s fleet of two operating Arctic-class icebreakers will be sufficient — if barely so — for about
Read more
Thinner Arctic ice enabling new phytoplankton blooms
Reduced ice cover is stimulating a new phenomenon in the Arctic — extra blooms of phytoplankton occurring in the fall,
Read more
Shell’s new Chukchi plan: Two rigs drilling wells at the same time
Two years after its ill-fated drilling season in Arctic waters off Alaska, Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday submitted a revised
Read more
Cultural ties may help prevent suicide in Arctic indigenous peoples, experts say
Amid the grim statistics about suicide in the far north there are some bright spots — and potential lessons for
Read more
Papp draws on long U.S. Coast Guard experience to guide Arctic policies
For former U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Robert Papp, newly appointed as the government’s top Arctic envoy, leading American circumpolar policy
Read more
Snowpack atop Arctic sea ice has dwindled since 1950s, study says
Snow atop Arctic sea ice has thinned dramatically since the mid-20th century, declining by more than a third in the
Read more
New U.S. Arctic emissary gets plenty of ideas from Alaskans for Arctic Council priorities
The newly appointed U.S. special Arctic representative, former Coast Guard Commandant Robert Papp, has issued a call for ideas about
Read more
Permafrost lakes are long-term climate coolers, study says
The tundra lakes that form over permafrost have been considered contributors to greenhouse gas accumulations and climate warming. The formation
Read more
Gold-dredging boats in Nome, Alaska get Coast Guard inspections
With another busy gold-dredging season underway in Nome, the U.S. Coast Guard just wound up an enforcement campaign to check
Read more
Predictions of Arctic summer ice melt come with lots of uncertainty
Every year, as Arctic sea ice thins, scatters and melts, scientists ask: How low will it go? While the long-term
Read more
Shell, Native corporations unveil joint venture in Chukchi Sea leases
Energy giant Shell, which has yet to hit oil after spending about $5 billion on a program to drill in
Read more
U.S. judge rules beringia bearded seals improperly listed as threatened
Alaska’s bearded seals, animals with distinctive whiskers and a penchant for floating alone on pieces of drifting Arctic sea ice,
Read more
Wildfires could threaten Arctic caribou herd’s winter habitat: study
Caribou in northern Alaska and Canada’s Yukon Territory will lose winter habitat if the region’s long-term pattern of increased wildfires
Read more
Study envisions fallout from oil spill in Arctic Canada
A well blowout, pipeline breach or vessel accident in the Canadian Beaufort Sea could spew spilled oil westward for months,
Read more