Environment

a destroyed house

String of fatal landslides forces Southeast Alaska to reckon with risk

The string of recent deadly slides is changing the way people look at their surroundings and plan for the future in a changing climate.
tents

Inside Graphite One: A look at Alaska’s largest graphite deposit

During a tour of the project's camp near Nome, officials discussed their plans to extract a key element in making electric vehicles.
tourists

Sitka tourism documentary ‘Cruise Boom’ to debut on PBS

A documentary examining the impact of cruise tourism's explosive growth in Sitka will debut this weekend on national television.
two women stand on the edge of a river bank. the woman in front is holding a very tall green pole with a grey box on top of it

Thawing permafrost is an existential threat for Alaska communities. This nonprofit is trying to help monitor it.

The goal of the project is to put data in the hands of community members, so that they can make crucial decisions about their future.
vehicles

Ketchikan colleagues mourn landslide victim Sean Griffin

The longtime city worker died helping clear storm drains on his day off. Friends say his commitment was central to his character.
2018 Alaska earthquake damage

UAF scientists hope new forecast method can predict major earthquakes months in advance

Társilo Girona says he and other researchers trained an algorithm to analyze 30 years of earthquake data in Alaska and California.

Microplastics in the Arctic | Line One

Why are microplastics so prevalent in the Arctic, and what is known about how they affect human health and development?
officials

Murkowski pledges federal support for Ketchikan landslide recovery efforts

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski told officials last week that she would work to secure federal dollars for rebuilding efforts after the fatal slide.
a map

Landslide triggers 55-foot tsunami wave at Kenai Fjords National Park

Heavy rains and melting glaciers are making landslides in the area more common, says a geologist.
A person on a four-wheeler

New research uses 130 years of historic flood observations to help identify future risks

Researchers compiled and analyzed a database of hundreds of written accounts and observations going back to the late 1880s.

Spike in salmon shark sightings near Kodiak stumps researchers

The sharks are turning up in fishermen's nets more often, but scientists say it's not clear whether their Alaska population has risen.
a cruise ship

Advocates call for a ban on cruise ship scrubbers, citing pollution concerns

Critics say scrubbers trade would-be air pollution for water pollution, and that regulators aren’t keeping Alaska waters clean.
Napakiak

Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta residents brace for fall storms after early floods and erosion

Last week’s fierce storms aren’t unprecedented, but longtime residents say they aren't all that normal either.
Unalakleet

Federal government to maintain protections for 28 million acres of Alaska D-1 lands

The move is widely supported by Alaska tribal and conservation groups, but is opposed by the state and its U.S. senators.
a landslide

Crews assess further risk after fatal Ketchikan landslide

Teams of scientists, engineers and meteorologists were assessing the slide site's steep hillside Tuesday in Ketchikan.
an orca

Orcas challenge the Bering Sea’s black cod industry

Orca depredation isn't just a costly headache for fishermen — it can be dangerous for orcas, too.
a landslide

Ketchikan authorities ask people to avoid area of fatal landslide as experts assess secondary slide risk

Officials say evacuation orders remain in effect for areas near Sunday's slide, measured at 1,100 feet long.
a broken telephone pole

Ketchikan residents describe a chaotic scene in the hours after fatal landslide

Marty Gillet was in his home in the White Cliff neighborhood when he said he heard something that sounded like a freight train. 
a heat pump

Heat pump incentive program aims to lower home heating bills in Gustavus

Gustavus was one of a dozen U.S. sites chosen for the National League of Cities' Advancing Economic Mobility Rapid Grant program.
A sign says AIDEA

Alaska’s embattled economic development agency signs contracts with 7 law firms

The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, or AIDEA, is pushing an array of controversial projects across the state.
a vessel

NOAA study links massive Bering Sea snow crab loss to climate change

The new study deepens the connection between human-caused climate change and the crabs' die-off in recent years.
lawmakers

Alaska delegation asks Biden to act on Canadian mining near transboundary rivers

U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Rep. Mary Peltola expressed concern over Canadian mining impacts on U.S. communities.
flooding

Juneau Assembly approves emergency funds for flood recovery, lays out plans to investigate flood mitigation

Most of the money will fund removing debris and fixing city infrastructure, but $150,000 will go toward studying future flood prevention.
a road

Road section removed at Alaska’s Katmai National Park to protect archaeological sites

The road section, built in 2014 without proper tribal consultation, has now been removed, and the park has improved its procedures.
coral

Lawsuit claims fishery managers have failed to adequately protect Alaska’s coral gardens

An environmental group says the National Marine Fisheries Service should do much more to limit bottom trawling in the Gulf of Alaska.

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