Climate Change

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.
Courtesy / Owen Squires Steven Ireland-Haight sits in his kayak as he continues his journey traveling across the country to raise awareness about climate change. Born and raised in Juneau, Ireland-Haight said the capital city is what nurtured his love for the outdoors.

Crossing the country for climate change: A Juneau kid is paddling and walking from Juneau to Washington DC for climate change awareness and action

He’s fighting climate change one step and paddle stroke at a time.

Courtesy / Owen Squires Steven Ireland-Haight sits in his kayak as he continues his journey traveling across the country to raise awareness about climate change. Born and raised in Juneau, Ireland-Haight said the capital city is what nurtured his love for the outdoors.
A workman from Power Shift Solar installs a solar panel Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022, in Salt Lake City. Congress is poised to pass a transformative climate change bill on Friday, Aug. 12. The crux of the long-delayed bill is to use incentives to accelerate the expansion of clean energy such as wind and solar power, speeding the transition away from the oil, coal and gas that largely cause climate change. (AP Photo / Rick Bowmer)

Big climate bill: Major new spending to spur green energy

Experts say it isn’t enough, but it’s a big start.

A workman from Power Shift Solar installs a solar panel Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022, in Salt Lake City. Congress is poised to pass a transformative climate change bill on Friday, Aug. 12. The crux of the long-delayed bill is to use incentives to accelerate the expansion of clean energy such as wind and solar power, speeding the transition away from the oil, coal and gas that largely cause climate change. (AP Photo / Rick Bowmer)
The Mendenhall Wastewater Treatment Plant has normally handled roughly 250,000 to 300,000 gallons of intake a day since 2016. But that average has increased somewhat since 2019 and spiked to a record high of nearly 1 million gallons on Dec. 1, 2020, due to a record amount of rainfall during a 24-hour period, according to a report published Monday assessing climate change impacts on Juneau. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Deep doo-doo due to climate change

Problems at Mendenhall Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant now blamed on abnormally high precipitation

The Mendenhall Wastewater Treatment Plant has normally handled roughly 250,000 to 300,000 gallons of intake a day since 2016. But that average has increased somewhat since 2019 and spiked to a record high of nearly 1 million gallons on Dec. 1, 2020, due to a record amount of rainfall during a 24-hour period, according to a report published Monday assessing climate change impacts on Juneau. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
Dancers rehearsed in front of “Tahku,” the whale sculpture, ahead of the Climate Fair for a Cool Planet in 2021. (Courtesy Photo / Mike Tobin)

Art and action: An upcoming fair plans to use art as a way to talk about climate change

There’s free ice cream, too.

Dancers rehearsed in front of “Tahku,” the whale sculpture, ahead of the Climate Fair for a Cool Planet in 2021. (Courtesy Photo / Mike Tobin)
A flare burns at Venture Global LNG in Cameron, La., on April 21, 2022. Most major countries are finding it easier to promise to fight climate change than actually do it. (AP Photo / Martha Irvine)

Most major nations lag in acting on climate-fighting goals

Only the EU has enacted polices close to or consistent with international goals of limiting warming.

A flare burns at Venture Global LNG in Cameron, La., on April 21, 2022. Most major countries are finding it easier to promise to fight climate change than actually do it. (AP Photo / Martha Irvine)
Source: Amber Chapin, Michael Penn An artistic rendering of the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center in 2040 shows the glacier “will barely be visible” by 2050 based on a mid-range thinning rate scenario, according to a Juneau-specific climate change study published Monday.

Report details local climate chaos and solutions

More rain, less snow and glacial retreat expected.

Source: Amber Chapin, Michael Penn An artistic rendering of the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center in 2040 shows the glacier “will barely be visible” by 2050 based on a mid-range thinning rate scenario, according to a Juneau-specific climate change study published Monday.
Members of local environmental group 350Juneau and the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network displayed signs in front of the downtown Juneau branch of Wells Fargo on Monday, April 11, 2022, as part of a demonstration urging the company's corporate leadership to cease funding of fossil fuels. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

Local environmentalists call on Wells Fargo to end fossil fuel funding

“Humanitarian crisis.”

Members of local environmental group 350Juneau and the Women's Earth and Climate Action Network displayed signs in front of the downtown Juneau branch of Wells Fargo on Monday, April 11, 2022, as part of a demonstration urging the company's corporate leadership to cease funding of fossil fuels. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)
The Mendenhall River is one of Juneau’s many water systems that was affected by the drought from 2016 to 2019. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)

Project looks into causes, effects of 2016-2019 drought

Hotter weather and less rain drove the three-year drought.

The Mendenhall River is one of Juneau’s many water systems that was affected by the drought from 2016 to 2019. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
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New series seeks to empower people, provide tools for fighting climate change

“The whole idea is providing people with tools and empowering people.”

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