Environment

All Alaska news stories about the environment, climate and weather. Could also include topics like animal die-offs related to the environment.

Two lawsuits challenge NPR-A lease sale

Environmental groups filed separate lawsuits Friday challenging the federal government’s December lease sale in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. Listen now
a sea otter floating on its back

Ketchikan officials call for more aggressive management of sea otter populations

Southeast Alaska’s sea otter population has been growing quickly, and concerns are bubbling up about the impact they have on fisheries.
A man in a parka stands on an ice field looking toward the sun low in the sky.

A network of Arctic observers is centering Indigenous knowledge in climate research

Research from the Alaska Arctic Observatory and Knowledge Hub was recently featured in NOAA’s 2023 Arctic Report Card.

EPA says Pebble may be riskier than study says, rekindling hope for mine foes

The Environmental Protection Agency has weighed in once again on the proposed Pebble Mine, and it has mine opponents cheering.
the National Tsunami Warning Center

Alaska’s annual tsunami warning test failed for some communities

Wednesday was the annual test of Alaska’s tsunami warning system — but Homer, Kenai, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Sitka and Unalaska didn't hear it at all.
two people on a boat, with a fishing net

Tesla needs graphite. Alaska has plenty. But mining it raises fears in nearby villages.

Graphite is a critical ingredient in the batteries needed to power America’s electric vehicle revolution. But every ounce of it is imported. A proposed mine in a remote part of Alaska would change that. But some of the people who live nearby fear it will endanger their way of life.
the Bering Strait

Study: Erosion has made the Bering Strait a meter deeper on the Alaska side than it used to be

A mapping project uses new data and reassesses old data to get more precise measurements in the critical Pacific gateway to the Arctic Ocean.
birds

Scientists found fewer positive cases of bird flu in Alaska this year

State and federal officials are reporting that the number of bird flu cases, particularly the highly pathogenic kind, are continuing to trend downwards.
a roof collapse

2 Anchorage commercial roof collapses reported in 2 days

No injuries were reported in Tuesday's Raspberry Road collapse or Wednesday's on the Old Seward Highway, firefighters said.
Tanaga Volcano

Aleutians volcanoes now pose lower threat, after quakes slow

Diminished earthquake activity led authorities to reduce warning levels at two volcanoes on an uninhabited island in Alaska’s Aleutian chain.
boats in a harbor on a sunny day

Southeast weather: exceedingly beautiful and very unusual

The weather has been beautiful in Southeast Alaska for two weeks straight. That is very unusual. September and October are normally the rainiest months in the region. Listen Now
a bear

Woman found dead in apparent bear encounter outside Yellowstone National Park

The woman's body and grizzly bear tracks were found on the Buttermilk Trail, located about eight miles west of West Yellowstone, Mont.
a highway

Extreme flooding on Alaska’s Arctic highway caused thaw-induced sinking in later years

A 2015 flood that closed the Dalton Highway to the North Slope triggered permafrost thaw even miles away from the road, UAF research finds.
a harbor seal pup

SeaLife Center takes in 4 Southcentral Alaska harbor seals

Four harbor seals, rescued from the Copper River and Nikiski, have been brought to the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward over the last two weeks.
a possum

Homer police take Grubby the opossum into custody

Homer police confirmed the Wednesday capture of the “wanted fugitive and somewhat local celebrity” on Facebook.

Napakiak faces accelerating erosion

As the Kuskokwim Riverbank falls away, the community of Napakiak has picked up its homes and buildings and moved them farther from the water.
the Hooper Bay boardwalk

Alaska gets $38M federal grant for climate-related housing disaster recovery

The state of Alaska recently received $38 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to ease the burden of climate change.
two wolves in the trees

Southeast Alaska wolves are not threatened or endangered, federal agency concludes

Putting the wolves on the Endangered Species List likely would have resulted in new restrictions on development, logging and construction in the region.

State asks U.S. Supreme Court to reverse EPA’s veto of Pebble Mine

The EPA “confiscated state property and created a de facto national park," the state argues.
Four caribou swim across a calm river with yellow grasses, trees and mountains in the background.

With a decision on Ambler looming, the Kobuk River makes a list of endangered rivers

Advocates say the Ambler Road and mining projects risk contaminating the Kobuk River watershed and hurting the region’s subsistence species.