Climate change

US Navy lacks ability to operate in Arctic, games reveal

As global warming opens the Arctic Ocean to commercial and industrial traffic, the U.S. Navy is pushing to catch up with Russia, Canada and even Denmark in its Arctic ability. If a crisis were to happen now, the Navy lacks the ability to act in the Arctic without the help of one of those countries or the Coast Guard.

Can zoos help polar bears survive loss of Arctic ice?

With polar bear populations projected to drop sharply in coming decades, a group of activists, zoo officials, lawmakers and scientists have come up with a radical proposal: Enlist zoos to help maintain the bears' genetic diversity.

Alaska glacier holds secrets to spread of carbon through atmosphere

Scientists working at Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau -- historically far from the biggest sources of human-caused air pollution -- believe they are finding clues to the spread of carbon soot through the atmosphere during the Industrial Revolution. Red Orbit reports on new research in which carbon dating lets scientists link soot deposited on glaciers by snow and rain to the burning of fossil fuels and forests far away.

Warming blamed for yellow cedar die-off in Southeast Alaska

U.S. Forest Service researchers have confirmed what has long been suspected about a valuable tree in Alaska's Panhandle: Climate warming is killing off yellow cedar.

Residents of eroding village vote yes on school relocation

Voters in Kivalina, which has been increasingly eroded by storms on Alaska's northwest coast, have overwhelmingly said yes to building a new school at a distant location, community officials said Wednesday.

Kivalina voters consider new school 7 miles away

Sick Alaska seals will be tested for Japanese radiation

Tissue samples from Alaska's sickened ringed seals will be analyzed for evidence of radiation, but a scientist says he doubts there's a connection to the Japanese nuclear plant damaged by a tsunami last year.

Sick seals washing up onshore around the Arctic

Feds want to delay decision on whether seals threatened

The federal government will delay a decision on listing two northern seals as threatened species because of climate change but will take another look at the status of a third seal it previously rejected.

Arctic melt-off is rapidly accelerating, says NOAA report

Federal officials say the Arctic has changed dramatically in the past five years -- for the worse. It's melting at a near-record pace, and it's darkening and absorbing too much of the sun's heat.

NOAA's 2011 Arctic Report Card

Thawing permafrost will speed warming, science panel warns

Lieutenant governor calls for new US icebreakers in Arctic

Climate warming means more ships in Arctic waters, Alaska's lieutenant governor said Wednesday, and an even greater need for the U.S. to maintain its presence in the region with polar ice breakers.

Thawing permafrost will speed warming, science panel warns

Massive amounts of greenhouse gases trapped below thawing Arctic permafrost will likely seep into the air over the next several decades, accelerating and amplifying global warming, scientists warn.

Researcher tests ties of greenhouse gas to climate (2/21/09)

Scientists say Kenai Peninsula getting drier and warmer

Climate change is taking place on the Kenai Peninsula, slowly but surely. Over the last 100 years, climate change has been affecting the Peninsula, according to a presentation Thursday night from Dr. John Morton, supervisory biologist at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.

More about the issue of climate change

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23

$400,000 apiece? Canadians try to put economic value on polar bears

Canadians are willing to shell out about $500 per household each year to save their polar bear population from a die-off caused by global warming, according to research commissioned by the Canadian government. Canada has about 15,000 polar bears, two-thirds of the world population. The bears are worth $6.3 billion to Canadians, or about $400,000 apiece, according to the estimate. Continued on jump

In Alaska's warming Arctic, some trees thrive as others ail

Andrew Revkin of the New York Times blog Dot Earth writes today of a newly published Columbia University tree-ring study reporting that white spruce trees in one region on the edge of Alaska's Arctic tundra seem to be thriving as the climate warms. The study's lead author wrote that she was surprised by the findings, as other tree species are suffering in changing climates. Indeed, an earlier UAF study found that white spruce in Interior Alaska seem to be among the suffering. The studies from two Alaska boreal forests hundreds of miles apart would seem to indicate that the white spruce range is shifting north. Continued on jump

Skeptic reverses himself after studying global warming

A prominent physicist and skeptic of global warming spent two years trying to find out if mainstream climate scientists were wrong. In the end, he determined they were right: Temperatures really are rising rapidly.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19

Receding Southeast glacier leaves behind thriving new salmon stream

It doesn't take long, in biological terms, for aquatic species to move into newly available territory. That apparently holds true for Alaska salmon looking for new freshwater streams to colonize. Scientists who spent almost 20 years studying the formation of Stonefly Creek in Southeast Alaska -- created as Plateau Glacier retreated -- report that since its formation in the late 1970s, the creek has developed runs of pink, red and silver salmon. Dozens of other species of fish and crustaceans also have moved in, reports Discovery News. Continued on jump

US met obligations for polar bear protection, judge rules

A federal judge ruled Monday that the government did not breach its obligations under the Endangered Species Act by not considering greenhouse gas emissions in efforts to protect polar bears.

Young backs call for icebreakers

U.S. Rep. Don Young is joining the call for additional U.S. icebreakers.

Conservation group battles invasive weeds near Fairbanks

Land managers in Alaska are experimenting with another weapon to use in their ongoing war against invasive weeds -- black landscape fabric.

Lawmakers confront reality of need for expensive icebreakers

This week, after years of hand-wringing over the nation's diminished Arctic ambitions, Congress will receive what is meant to be the definitive independent analysis on whether it should build new icebreakers or eke even more service out of two aged vessels.

Arctic ozone layer fell to an unprecedented low in 2011

NASA scientists this week published a study reporting that the ozone layer over the Arctic fell to unprecedentedly low levels over the winter and spring of 2011.

Ice shelves in Canadian Arctic break up at record speed

Canadian researchers who have reviewed satellite imagery say ice shelves along Ellesmere Island in Canada's far north have lost almost half their area since just 2005. They say more open water and warmer weather are the contributing factors, the CBC reports. Continued on jump