As Alaska warms, the Y-K Delta heats up even faster
Regional temperatures are a big deal because Y-K Delta residents can only travel to other villages by water or by plane. In the past the river usually froze thick enough before December to allow for an ice road, but that hasn’t been the case for the last couple of years.
What happens when an oil producer moves into the neighborhood?
Public information about oil and gas exploration on private land comes with a lot of what ifs. Oil and gas wells themselves are permitted internally at the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, and the location of wells is only made public after they are approved.
ANWR drilling foes see chance to sow doubt
What can opponents of drilling in the Arctic Refuge expect to accomplish with control of just one chamber of Congress? Momentum.
Judge dismisses challenges to oil lease sales in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska
Environmental groups had argued the federal Bureau of Land Management did not do an adequate environmental review before it held oil lease sales in 2016 and 2017.
A week after the Anchorage earthquake, city continues to find damaged homes
Anchorage is still coming to grips with the extent of the damage on buildings and homes following the 7.0 earthquake that struck the region on Nov. 30.
Reactions from Utqiaġvik on a whaling quota rule change: ‘We don’t have to beg anymore’
This year, the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission and the U.S. government put forward a new proposal that would change how the International Whaling Commission renews its quota. It passed.
Where’d the website for Walker’s climate change team go?
The Alaska Office of Information Technology is going through the process of updating the state website, which means websites you could access last week may not be available now.
Report: Alaska Native communities will face the brunt of climate change
For the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, the climate change stakes are especially high because the region is home to the most tribes in the state.
New legislation improves earthquake preparedness in Alaska
The legislation, which now awaits the president’s signature, could help Alaska implement the latest technology to monitor earthquakes.
Climate change will cost Alaska hundreds of millions per year, report finds
A report from the University of Alaska Anchorage notes some of the biggest climate change-related costs come from damage to infrastructure and communities in rural Alaska as permafrost thaws and coastlines erode.
Is there something for everyone in a new vision for Tongass roads?
A citizen advisory committee has released a set of new recommendations that could shape the future of the Tongass National Forest.
ConocoPhillips executive: more land around Teshekpuk Lake should be available for drilling
His statements come a week after the Trump administration announced it is overhauling the management plan for the 22-million-acre Reserve where Teshekpuk Lake is located, a decision spurred by a series of recent large oil discoveries in the region.
As oceans heats up off Northwest Alaska, the fishing does too
The cod population in the Gulf of Alaska is at its lowest level on record. Officials have declared disasters after the failure of multiple Alaska salmon fisheries. But in northern parts of the state, fishermen have been landing huge catches, in numbers that haven’t been seen in decades.
New federal report: Climate change is going to be expensive in Alaska and impact every household in the state
The latest National Climate Assessment, released today, devotes an entire chapter to Alaska and describes the state as one of the fastest warming places on earth.
An unexpected agency weighs in on offshore Arctic oil drilling: NASA
NASA says a proposed oil lease sale in the Beaufort Sea could impact rocket launches from the Poker Flat Research Range near Fairbanks.
Science and traditional knowledge converge in North Slope Borough’s bowhead whale program
Scientists have spent the past few decades catching up to traditional knowledge, documenting scientifically what whale hunters already knew. Like the fact that the whales can smell, and that they can travel under sea ice.
Seismic work in ANWR this winter? Time will tell.
SAExploration hopes to collect data within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge before the government holds an oil lease sale next summer.
Scientists map shifting migration around Alaska mountains, using GPS-equipped eagles
When golden eagles migrate to and from Alaska each year, they have to navigate around the 16,000-foot peaks of the Wrangell Mountains. A new study examines how the weather affects their route.
Nuclear power in Alaska? Experts say it’s not as far-fetched as you think.
Nuclear power has been explored in Alaska before, in the Interior village of Galena, and went nowhere. At an Anchorage conference this month, the Resource Development Council, an industry group, took another look.
Things are heating up for Alaska pollock — and it’s putting them in the mood to spawn
Over the past three decades, pollock spawning times in the Gulf of Alaska have varied as much as three weeks, which is potentially deadly for baby fish. Now, new research confirms warmer ocean temperatures are playing a role.