Climate Change

Esau Sinnok of Shishmaref, Alaska, speaks at a news conference after the Alaska Supreme Court heard arguments on Oct. 9, 2019, in Anchorage, Alaska, in a lawsuit that claims state policy on fossil fuels is harming the constitutional right of young Alaskans to a safe climate. The Alaska Supreme Court on Friday, Jan. 28, 2022, upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by 16 Alaska youths, who claimed long-term effects of climate change will devastate Alaska and interfere with their individual constitutional rights. (AP File Photo / Mark Thiessen)

Alaska court rules against youths in climate change lawsuit

The Alaska Supreme Court on Friday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by 16 young Alaskans.

Esau Sinnok of Shishmaref, Alaska, speaks at a news conference after the Alaska Supreme Court heard arguments on Oct. 9, 2019, in Anchorage, Alaska, in a lawsuit that claims state policy on fossil fuels is harming the constitutional right of young Alaskans to a safe climate. The Alaska Supreme Court on Friday, Jan. 28, 2022, upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by 16 Alaska youths, who claimed long-term effects of climate change will devastate Alaska and interfere with their individual constitutional rights. (AP File Photo / Mark Thiessen)
Vladimir Alexeev in Norway while teaching summer school in 2017. Alexeev is a climate scientist who recently worked with local composer Michael Bucy to create a song about climate change. (Courtesy photo/Vishnu Nandan)
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Sounding a warning

Local composer writes song about climate change

Vladimir Alexeev in Norway while teaching summer school in 2017. Alexeev is a climate scientist who recently worked with local composer Michael Bucy to create a song about climate change. (Courtesy photo/Vishnu Nandan)
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FILE - A woman stands next to an antenna at an NYU base camp at the Helheim glacier in Greenland on Friday, Aug. 16, 2019. In an effort to combat climate change and help develop Arctic communities, the Department of Energy Wednesday announced it was seeking to develop new sustainable energy projects in Alaska. (AP Photo / Felipe Dana)
FILE - A woman stands next to an antenna at an NYU base camp at the Helheim glacier in Greenland on Friday, Aug. 16, 2019. In an effort to combat climate change and help develop Arctic communities, the Department of Energy Wednesday announced it was seeking to develop new sustainable energy projects in Alaska. (AP Photo / Felipe Dana)
Heidi Pearson is an associate professor of marine biology at the University of Alaska Southeast and lives in Juneau.  (Courtesy Photo)

Sustainable Alaska: Climate change, reality and hope

We all have the ability to reduce our own carbon footprint

Heidi Pearson is an associate professor of marine biology at the University of Alaska Southeast and lives in Juneau.  (Courtesy Photo)
FILE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011 file photo, the remains of a carp are seen on the dry lake bed of O.C. Fisher Lake in San Angelo, Texas. According to data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, the new United States normal is not just hotter, but wetter in the eastern and central parts of the nation and considerably drier in the West than just a decade earlier. (AP Photo / Tony Gutierrez)

America’s new normal: A degree hotter than two decades ago

America’s new normal temperature is a degree hotter than it was just two decades ago.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011 file photo, the remains of a carp are seen on the dry lake bed of O.C. Fisher Lake in San Angelo, Texas. According to data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Tuesday, May 4, 2021, the new United States normal is not just hotter, but wetter in the eastern and central parts of the nation and considerably drier in the West than just a decade earlier. (AP Photo / Tony Gutierrez)
Juneau resident Bob Varness is showing how Juneau can be a leader in sustainable maritime transport. (Courtesy Photo / Brian Wallace for Juneau Climate Change Solutionists)

Juneau’s Climate Change Solutionists: Electrifying marine transportation with Bob Varness

Our maritime lifestyles and dependence on maritime transportation generate significant emissions.

Juneau resident Bob Varness is showing how Juneau can be a leader in sustainable maritime transport. (Courtesy Photo / Brian Wallace for Juneau Climate Change Solutionists)
Lisa Daugherty of Juneau Composts says composting is an important way for Juneau to address both climate change and a rapidly filling local landfill. (Courtesy Photo / Brian Wallace for Juneau Climate Change Solutionists)

Juneau Climate Change Solutionists: Composting organic waste with Lisa Daugherty

Composting is on the rise locally —with good reason.

Lisa Daugherty of Juneau Composts says composting is an important way for Juneau to address both climate change and a rapidly filling local landfill. (Courtesy Photo / Brian Wallace for Juneau Climate Change Solutionists)
Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson works with villages, tribes, businesses, and government to protect the Tongass and advance Indigenous management of natural resources. (Courtesy Photo / Brian Wallace for Juneau Climate Change Solutionists)

Juneau Climate Change Solutionists: Protecting Forests through Indigenous land management with Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson

Our greatest role in the global fight against climate change is to protect our land.

Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson works with villages, tribes, businesses, and government to protect the Tongass and advance Indigenous management of natural resources. (Courtesy Photo / Brian Wallace for Juneau Climate Change Solutionists)
Nathea Burnet holds both a plastic ax and her grandmother, Patricia Forrest's, hand while looking at electric vehicles during Juneau Electric Vehicle Association's road rally Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. On a per capita basis, there is one electric vehicle per 76 residents in Juneau. There were 418 EVs registered in Juneau as of November 2020. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

Juneau’s Climate Change Solutionists: Electric vehicles with Devon Kibby

The clock is ticking to fast-track Alaska’s electric vehicle ecosystem.

Nathea Burnet holds both a plastic ax and her grandmother, Patricia Forrest's, hand while looking at electric vehicles during Juneau Electric Vehicle Association's road rally Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020. On a per capita basis, there is one electric vehicle per 76 residents in Juneau. There were 418 EVs registered in Juneau as of November 2020. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)
Andy Romanoff says reducing carbon emissions starts at home. (Courtesy Photo / Brian Wallace for Juneau’s Climate Change Solutionists)

Juneau’s Climate Change Solutionists: Boosting heat pumps with Andy Romanoff

“We all have the potential to have a greater impact that we may realize.”

Andy Romanoff says reducing carbon emissions starts at home. (Courtesy Photo / Brian Wallace for Juneau’s Climate Change Solutionists)
A sign stands near the Auke Village Recreation Area, which is part of the Tongass National Forest. During the first few weeks of Joe Biden's presidency, he's issued several executive orders related to conservation. SEACC is hosting a webinar series to help people in Southeast Alaska learn more about how executive orders during the first 100 days of  Biden's presidency might affect The Tongass National Forest and other issues related to climate change. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
A sign stands near the Auke Village Recreation Area, which is part of the Tongass National Forest. During the first few weeks of Joe Biden's presidency, he's issued several executive orders related to conservation. SEACC is hosting a webinar series to help people in Southeast Alaska learn more about how executive orders during the first 100 days of  Biden's presidency might affect The Tongass National Forest and other issues related to climate change. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Koren Bosworth (Courtesy Photo / Brian Wallace for Juneau's Climate Change Solutionists)
Koren Bosworth (Courtesy Photo / Brian Wallace for Juneau's Climate Change Solutionists)
The Southeast Alaska Conservation Council recently produced a zine “Hunker Down For Climate Change” made with art submissions from residents of the Southeast, Oct. 13, 2020. (Courtesy Photo / SEACC)
The Southeast Alaska Conservation Council recently produced a zine “Hunker Down For Climate Change” made with art submissions from residents of the Southeast, Oct. 13, 2020. (Courtesy Photo / SEACC)
Tlingit and Haida President Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson, David R. Boxley, Lyle and Kolene James, Stephen Qacung Blanchett and Ben and Maria Young participate in Tlingit and Haida’s Indigenous Peoples Day celebration. This year’s event was held virtually. It was one of several such virtual events held throughout the state in observation of the holiday. (Screenshot)

Alaskans celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day virtually with music, language, activism

The legacy of colonization is still a threat to the future of Indigenous culture here, many say.

Tlingit and Haida President Richard Chalyee Éesh Peterson, David R. Boxley, Lyle and Kolene James, Stephen Qacung Blanchett and Ben and Maria Young participate in Tlingit and Haida’s Indigenous Peoples Day celebration. This year’s event was held virtually. It was one of several such virtual events held throughout the state in observation of the holiday. (Screenshot)
Arctic researcher says climate change is coming

Arctic researcher says climate change is coming

Crises are times of both danger and opportunity.

Arctic researcher says climate change is coming
The Mendenhall Glacier, seen here in May 2016. (Angelo Saggiomo | Juneau Empire File)

Opinion: It’s a climate emergency!

It’s not just the climate that’s changing.

The Mendenhall Glacier, seen here in May 2016. (Angelo Saggiomo | Juneau Empire File)
Esau Sinnok of Shishmaref speaks at a news conference after the Alaska Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in Anchorage in a lawsuit that claims state policy on fossil fuels is harming the constitutional right of young Alaskans to a safe climate. Sinnok and 15 other Alaska youths in 2017 sued the state, claiming that human-caused greenhouse gas emission leading to climate change is creating long-term, dangerous health effects. They lost in Superior Court, but appealed to Alaska’s highest court. (AP Photo | Mark Thiessen)
Esau Sinnok of Shishmaref speaks at a news conference after the Alaska Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in Anchorage in a lawsuit that claims state policy on fossil fuels is harming the constitutional right of young Alaskans to a safe climate. Sinnok and 15 other Alaska youths in 2017 sued the state, claiming that human-caused greenhouse gas emission leading to climate change is creating long-term, dangerous health effects. They lost in Superior Court, but appealed to Alaska’s highest court. (AP Photo | Mark Thiessen)
Katharine Hayhoe reconciles Christianity and climate science
Katharine Hayhoe reconciles Christianity and climate science
Katharine Hayhoe is an evangelical Christian, atmospheric scientist and a nationally known advocate for taking action to slow climate change. Hayhoe will be in Juneau this week for a pair of Friday talks. (Courtesy Photo | Artie Limmer, Texas Tech University)
Katharine Hayhoe is an evangelical Christian, atmospheric scientist and a nationally known advocate for taking action to slow climate change. Hayhoe will be in Juneau this week for a pair of Friday talks. (Courtesy Photo | Artie Limmer, Texas Tech University)
Daniel Grossman, an award-winning climate change journalist, visits a dead forest in Brazil. (Courtesy Photo | Daniel Grossman)

Alaska is ‘ground zero’ for climate change

This climate change journalist says we’re running out of time.

Daniel Grossman, an award-winning climate change journalist, visits a dead forest in Brazil. (Courtesy Photo | Daniel Grossman)