Matt Miller, KTOO - Juneau
Matt Miller is a reporter at KTOO in Juneau.
Years of budget cuts hamper monitoring of Alaska earthquakes, including Monday’s
Alaska seismologists say continuing budget cuts are affecting their ability to quickly detect and pinpoint earthquakes. Listen now
AK: Model Arctic Council simulates impending actual Arctic Council meeting
The Arctic Council returns to Alaska with meetings in Juneau next week (March 7-10) and in Fairbanks in May. Representatives from eight Arctic countries and six indigenous groups work on shaping Arctic policy. To understand the work of the Arctic Council first-hand, a group of university students met in Fairbanks last spring to form a model council with real-world impacts. Listen now
Court to issue opinion on possible DNA testing in decades-old Juneau homicide
After four years, convicted murderer Newton Lambert of Juneau may finally get an answer about whether he will get a DNA test in his case. Listen now
Where does the soot come from that peppers Juneau Icefield?
Scientists this year started sampling the snow and ice above Southeast Alaska’s glaciers for the particles left from over from forest fires, diesel engines and industrial activity. The particles of black carbon can accelerate warming of glaciers and the atmosphere. The big question is: where does this carbon come from? Listen Now
Arctic’s warmest year on record harshly affects ecosystem
2016 was not a good year for the Arctic with the continued warming of the air and sea water, and diminishing sea ice. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday released its Arctic Report Card for 2016. Listen Now
Why Alaska judges don’t raise campaign funds to continue to serve, like other states’
There are 33 judges on this year’s election ballot. Yet probably none of them are producing radio and television ads, putting fliers in the mail, or taking out ads in the newspaper promoting their credentials as a judge and asking to remain on the bench. And, for sure, Alaska judges never accept large campaign contributions from lawyers, lobbyists, and special interest groups. Listen Now
Coast Guard rescues two men from foundering sailboat
Two people were rescued from their sailboat after it began taking on water Tuesday in the Gulf of Alaska.
New report says 2015 was hottest year on record on Earth
Rising sea levels, changes in marine habitat, decreasing Arctic sea ice and retreating mountain glaciers over the last 50 years all signal that the planet has long surpassed a tipping point in a changing global climate. Listen now
Skagway official sentenced to 12 months and a day in prison
A Skagway Borough Assembly member and businessman convicted of failing to file his income taxes is being ordered to spend just over a year in prison. Listen now
Warm water Blob survives as El Niño dies
It’s being called a marine heat wave. The combination of the strongest El Niño in recent history and the warm water anomaly known as the Blob generated the greatest amount of warm ocean water that has ever been recorded, possibly affecting marine life up and down the West Coast. Listen now
First-time offenders get second chance under new criminal justice reform law
The criminal justice reform bill recently signed into law is intended to save money and reduce the state’s prison population by eliminating the factors that contribute to recidivism, or the revolving door of offenders repeatedly returning to prison. Listen now
Hundred-year ‘treasure’ of Alaska history and culture opens in Juneau
It was built to protect and preserve Alaska’s most-treasured documents and artifacts for the next hundred years. The replacement for the old Alaska State Museum in Juneau was almost two decades in the planning and it took over three years to build. Download Audio
Walker to name new Supreme Court Justice within the week
Governor Bill Walker will name someone to a seat on the Alaska Supreme Court within the next few days. Download Audio
Unusually big pink salmon may be related to smaller coho and kings
Fisheries researchers are investigating why pink salmon, a staple of Southeast Alaska’s commercial fisheries, seem to be growing bigger every year while other, longer-lived salmon species are getting smaller in size.
Biologists project lower harvests of pink salmon this season
Federal fishery biologists expect only 30-million pink salmon, or humpies, will be harvested in Southeast Alaska 2016. That’s well short of 2015's disappointing harvest of 34 million fish and 2013’s record catch of 95-million pinks. Download Audio
Warm water Blob may be sending salmon forecasts awry
Fisheries researchers say the appearance of a warm water anomaly in the northeast Pacific Ocean likely added a new wrinkle into recent predictions of Alaska salmon runs that are used by commercial fishing industry for the upcoming season’s planning. Because of the variability of West Coast salmon populations, a simple cause and effect may be impossible to pin down.
Alaska experiences second warmest winter in last 90 years
If you thought Alaska was pretty warm and dry this winter, you were right. In fact, it could come close to setting a record. Download Audio
Irreversibility of climate change discussed at Arctic Science Summit
Government leaders and policymakers from circumpolar nations say they rely on the very best and latest science to make decisions about how to adapt to climate change and a rapidly warming Arctic. They converged in Fairbanks last week at the same time as one of the largest groups of Arctic scientists met to brainstorm on the next round of new research. Download Audio
Arctic Council arrives in Fairbanks
Every hotel is booked up solid in Fairbanks this week, and rental cars are hard to find. Over a thousand people from 30 different countries are in the Golden Heart City for a meeting of Arctic scientists and policymakers called Arctic Science Summit Week. One of the highlights includes a meeting of the Arctic Council, a multinational governmental forum created to address the Arctic’s pressing issues. Download Audio
Return of the “Blob”
Climate researchers say a giant mass of warm water in the Pacific Ocean may be responsible for unusual sightings of marine life in the North Pacific while also influencing North American weather patterns.