Climate Change

Strips of chum salmon hang on a drying rack on Aug. 22, 2007. A new study by federal and state biologists identies marine heat waves in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska as the likely culprit in the recent crashes of Western Alaska chum salmon runs. (Photo by S.Zuray / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

Study points to concurrent marine heat waves as culprit in Western Alaska chum declines

Successive marine heat waves appear to have doomed much of the chum salmon swimming in the ocean waters off Alaska in the past year and… Continue reading

Strips of chum salmon hang on a drying rack on Aug. 22, 2007. A new study by federal and state biologists identies marine heat waves in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska as the likely culprit in the recent crashes of Western Alaska chum salmon runs. (Photo by S.Zuray / U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
University of Alaska environmental science professor Eran Hood (foreground right) and National Weather Service Juneau hydrologist Aaron Jacobs discuss their hope of renaming Suicide Basin to Kʼóox Ḵaadí Basin, a Tlingit name referring to a small weasel-like mammal in the area — during a presentation Friday at the University of Alaska Southeast. They also discussed the basin’s history, a record flood from it that occurred this summer and the possibility of future such floods. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
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Experts seek to rename Suicide Basin to Kʼóox Ḵaadí Basin; warn its deadly flood threat rising

History, future and monitoring of ice dam that caused record flooding this year focus of UAS event.

University of Alaska environmental science professor Eran Hood (foreground right) and National Weather Service Juneau hydrologist Aaron Jacobs discuss their hope of renaming Suicide Basin to Kʼóox Ḵaadí Basin, a Tlingit name referring to a small weasel-like mammal in the area — during a presentation Friday at the University of Alaska Southeast. They also discussed the basin’s history, a record flood from it that occurred this summer and the possibility of future such floods. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
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Rafters navigate the Mendenhall River in July of 2021. (Photo by John Harley)

Sustainable Alaska: Adventures in a changing climate

It’s difficult to quantify and rank the threats of climate change — how do you weigh the complete collapse of a Yukon salmon run against… Continue reading

Rafters navigate the Mendenhall River in July of 2021. (Photo by John Harley)
A person walks across the dock at St. Paul Harbor, Thursday, June 22, 2023, in Kodiak. Alaska fishermen will be able to harvest red king crab, the largest and most lucrative of all the Bering Sea crab species, for the first time in two years, offering a slight reprieve to the beleaguered fishery beset by low numbers likely exacerbated by climate change. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)

Alaska fishermen will be allowed to harvest lucrative red king crab in the Bering Sea

Catch allowed after two canceled seasons; snow crab fishery to remain closed for second year.

A person walks across the dock at St. Paul Harbor, Thursday, June 22, 2023, in Kodiak. Alaska fishermen will be able to harvest red king crab, the largest and most lucrative of all the Bering Sea crab species, for the first time in two years, offering a slight reprieve to the beleaguered fishery beset by low numbers likely exacerbated by climate change. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel, File)
Simple weatherization techniques, like improving insulation and plugging up gaps in your home, can help homeowners lower their energy costs. Alaska Heat Smart, offer free home heating assessments, which analyze homes and their energy use to create a report about potential heat pump installation options, and weatherization suggestions. (Bethany Goodrich/ Sustainable Southeast Partnership)

Exploring needs and opportunities on anniversary of Inflation Reduction Act

Tips on using federal and regional incentives for a clean energy future for Southeast Alaskans.

Simple weatherization techniques, like improving insulation and plugging up gaps in your home, can help homeowners lower their energy costs. Alaska Heat Smart, offer free home heating assessments, which analyze homes and their energy use to create a report about potential heat pump installation options, and weatherization suggestions. (Bethany Goodrich/ Sustainable Southeast Partnership)
Youth plaintiffs in the climate change lawsuit, Held vs. Montana, arrive at the Lewis and Clark County Courthouse, on June 20, 2023, in Helena, Mont., for the final day of the trial. A Montana judge on Monday sided with young environmental activists who said state agencies were violating their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment by permitting fossil fuel development without considering its effect on the climate. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP, File)

Victors in landmark climate change lawsuit reset sights on Alaska

Montana ruling establishes youths’ rights to clean environment, after similar case failed in Alaska.

Youth plaintiffs in the climate change lawsuit, Held vs. Montana, arrive at the Lewis and Clark County Courthouse, on June 20, 2023, in Helena, Mont., for the final day of the trial. A Montana judge on Monday sided with young environmental activists who said state agencies were violating their constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment by permitting fossil fuel development without considering its effect on the climate. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP, File)
A sign marks a house along the Mendenhall River that is condemned following a glacial dam outburst Saturday that resulted in weekend flooding along the river. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)

Bursting ice dam in Juneau highlights risks of glacial flooding around the globe

The gray, two-story home with white trim toppled and slid, crashing into the river below as rushing waters carried off a bobbing chunk of its… Continue reading

A sign marks a house along the Mendenhall River that is condemned following a glacial dam outburst Saturday that resulted in weekend flooding along the river. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)
Sunsets started to tease the Arctic horizon as scientists on board the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy headed south in the Chukchi Sea during the final days collecting ocean data for the 2011 ICESCAPE mission. (Photo by NASA/Kathryn Hansen)

Opinion: Action to protect the Arctic could slow climate change

As a scorching wake-up call reverberated around the globe, climate scientists urged accelerated action in the Arctic to help slow the rate of warming and… Continue reading

Sunsets started to tease the Arctic horizon as scientists on board the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy headed south in the Chukchi Sea during the final days collecting ocean data for the 2011 ICESCAPE mission. (Photo by NASA/Kathryn Hansen)
Marian Call and Conor Lendrum perform a song during the annual Climate Fair for a Cooler Planet on Saturday afternoon at Overstreet Park. (Meredith Jordan / Juneau Empire)

Seriousness about climate change amid a festive backdrop

Canadian wildfires, proposed North Slope projects draw heat at Climate Fair for a Cooler Planet

Marian Call and Conor Lendrum perform a song during the annual Climate Fair for a Cooler Planet on Saturday afternoon at Overstreet Park. (Meredith Jordan / Juneau Empire)
Dancers rehearsed in front of “Tahku,” the whale sculpture ahead of the Climate Fair for a Cool Planet in 2021. (Courtesy of Mike Tobin)

My Turn: Fair time to advocate for a cool planet

The Climate Fair for a Cool Planet is coming up on Saturday, Aug. 5, from 3-5 p.m. at the Whale in Overstreet Park. You might… Continue reading

Dancers rehearsed in front of “Tahku,” the whale sculpture ahead of the Climate Fair for a Cool Planet in 2021. (Courtesy of Mike Tobin)
An employee at Barnacle Foods in Juneau chops up bull kelp as it makes it was down a conveyor belt. The company is among many in Alaska seeking to use kelp for a variety of commercial and scientific purposes.(Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

Seeking the rich rewards of sustainability

Economic as well as environmental prospects emphasized at second annual energy conference

An employee at Barnacle Foods in Juneau chops up bull kelp as it makes it was down a conveyor belt. The company is among many in Alaska seeking to use kelp for a variety of commercial and scientific purposes.(Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)
Vera Metcalf stands on Wednesday by a chunk of sea ice transported from Utqiagvik and displayed at the Arctic Encounter Symposium. The melting ice, which started at 310 pounds, symbolizes the rapid climate change that is weaking the Arctic ice pack, with profound implications for ecosystems, communties and cultures. (Photo by Yereth Rosen / Alaska Beacon)

Sea ice, critical to ecosystems and communities, looms large at Alaska conference

Suspended in netting in a downtown Anchorage building is a potent symbol of Arctic climate change: a chunk of sea ice that started at 310… Continue reading

Vera Metcalf stands on Wednesday by a chunk of sea ice transported from Utqiagvik and displayed at the Arctic Encounter Symposium. The melting ice, which started at 310 pounds, symbolizes the rapid climate change that is weaking the Arctic ice pack, with profound implications for ecosystems, communties and cultures. (Photo by Yereth Rosen / Alaska Beacon)
Bob Schroeder takes an electric chainsaw to a mock credit card during a protest outside the Wells Fargo in downtown Juneau at midday Tuesday. Schroeder cut up three mock credit cards representing three banks in Juneau protesters say are leading funders of fossil fuel development projects. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Chainsaw reaction: Protesters object to banks financing fossil fuel projects

Demonstration uses electric tool to cut up giant credit cards.

Bob Schroeder takes an electric chainsaw to a mock credit card during a protest outside the Wells Fargo in downtown Juneau at midday Tuesday. Schroeder cut up three mock credit cards representing three banks in Juneau protesters say are leading funders of fossil fuel development projects. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Chunks of ice break off the Perito Moreno Glacier, in Lake Argentina, at Los Glaciares National Park, near El Calafate, in Argentina's Patagonia region, March 10, 2016. As glaciers melt and pour massive amounts of water into nearby lakes, 15 million people across the globe live under the threat of a sudden and deadly outburst flood, a new study finds. (AP Photo / Francisco Munoz)

Study: 15 million people live under threat of glacial floods

More than half of those are in just four countries: India, Pakistan, Peru and China.

Chunks of ice break off the Perito Moreno Glacier, in Lake Argentina, at Los Glaciares National Park, near El Calafate, in Argentina's Patagonia region, March 10, 2016. As glaciers melt and pour massive amounts of water into nearby lakes, 15 million people across the globe live under the threat of a sudden and deadly outburst flood, a new study finds. (AP Photo / Francisco Munoz)
Climate activists hold a rally outside the Alaska State Capitol Friday afternoon in advocacy for legislative action to improve Alaska’s renewable energy development and future sustainability. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Climate activists hold rally near the Capitol

Statewide organizations advocate for legislative action

Climate activists hold a rally outside the Alaska State Capitol Friday afternoon in advocacy for legislative action to improve Alaska’s renewable energy development and future sustainability. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)
Smoke and haze fill the air to filter the view of downtown Juneau from Douglas Island on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)

Report: Southeast Alaska drought risk declining, but warming temps may amplify future impacts

“This is going to happen again, and if it gets warmer and not wetter things can go south.”

Smoke and haze fill the air to filter the view of downtown Juneau from Douglas Island on Friday, July 5, 2019. (Michael Penn | Juneau Empire)
Chunks of ice float on Mendenhall Lake in front of the Mendenhall Glacier on Monday, May 30, 2022, in Juneau, Alaska. A study of all of the world's 215,000 glaciers published on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, finds even if with the unlikely minimum warming of only a few tenths of a degrees more, the world will lose nearly half its glaciers by the end of the century. With the warming we're now on track to get, the world will lose two-thirds of its glaciers and overall glacier mass will drop by one-third while sea level rises 4.5 inches just from melting glaciers. (AP Photo / Becky Bohrer)

Study: Two-thirds of glaciers on track to disappear by 2100

The world’s glaciers are shrinking and disappearing faster than scientists thought…

Chunks of ice float on Mendenhall Lake in front of the Mendenhall Glacier on Monday, May 30, 2022, in Juneau, Alaska. A study of all of the world's 215,000 glaciers published on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, finds even if with the unlikely minimum warming of only a few tenths of a degrees more, the world will lose nearly half its glaciers by the end of the century. With the warming we're now on track to get, the world will lose two-thirds of its glaciers and overall glacier mass will drop by one-third while sea level rises 4.5 inches just from melting glaciers. (AP Photo / Becky Bohrer)
This photo shows a so-called "mummy berry." "The best-studied type of Monilinia attacks a blueberry species that is native to eastern North America but is also widely cultivated (e.g., in Pacific Northwest and British Colubmia)." writes Mary F. Willson. "When Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi infests Vaccinium corymbosum, the vegetative parts are blighted and the fruits become hard, wizened 'mummy berries.'" (Courtesy Photo / Matt Goff, sitkanature.org/photojournal)

On the Trails: Climate warming and disease spread

The effects of climate change are being felt far and wide.

This photo shows a so-called "mummy berry." "The best-studied type of Monilinia attacks a blueberry species that is native to eastern North America but is also widely cultivated (e.g., in Pacific Northwest and British Colubmia)." writes Mary F. Willson. "When Monilinia vaccinii-corymbosi infests Vaccinium corymbosum, the vegetative parts are blighted and the fruits become hard, wizened 'mummy berries.'" (Courtesy Photo / Matt Goff, sitkanature.org/photojournal)
In this Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016 file photo, dead common murres lie washed up on a rocky beach in Whittier, Alaska. Arctic seabirds unable to find enough food in warmer ocean waters are just one sign of the vast changes in the polar region, where the climate is being transformed faster than anywhere else on Earth. An annual report, to be released Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022 by U.S. scientists, also documents rising Arctic temperatures and disappearing sea ice. (AP Photo / Mark Thiessen File)

Starving seabirds on Alaska coast show climate change peril

The seabirds are struggling because of climate-linked ecosystem shifts…

In this Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016 file photo, dead common murres lie washed up on a rocky beach in Whittier, Alaska. Arctic seabirds unable to find enough food in warmer ocean waters are just one sign of the vast changes in the polar region, where the climate is being transformed faster than anywhere else on Earth. An annual report, to be released Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022 by U.S. scientists, also documents rising Arctic temperatures and disappearing sea ice. (AP Photo / Mark Thiessen File)
AP Photo / Jae C. Hong Pulling a sled with fuel containers in the lagoon, Joe Eningowuk, 62, left, and his 7-year-old grandson, Isaiah Kakoona, head toward their boat through the shallow water while getting ready for a two-day camping trip in Shishmaref, Alaska, Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022. Rising sea levels, flooding, increased erosion and loss of protective sea ice and land have led residents of this island community to vote twice to relocate. But more than six years after the last vote, Shishmaref remains in the same place because the relocation is too costly.

Climate Migration: Alaska village resists despite threats

Traditional lifestyle is vulnerable to climate change effects

AP Photo / Jae C. Hong Pulling a sled with fuel containers in the lagoon, Joe Eningowuk, 62, left, and his 7-year-old grandson, Isaiah Kakoona, head toward their boat through the shallow water while getting ready for a two-day camping trip in Shishmaref, Alaska, Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022. Rising sea levels, flooding, increased erosion and loss of protective sea ice and land have led residents of this island community to vote twice to relocate. But more than six years after the last vote, Shishmaref remains in the same place because the relocation is too costly.