Climate
RSSAlaska News tracks climate impacts across Alaska, including permafrost thaw, drought conditions, sea ice changes, extreme weather.
NOAA tightens salmon limits, closes coho retention off Washington, Oregon and California
NOAA cuts commercial troller limits and closes coho salmon retention off Washington, Oregon and California starting this week due to weak salmon runs.
by Bill AlaskaNews2d ago2 min readAI
Seven straight months below normal: what drove Alaska's chilly first half of 2026
A climate analysis published Sunday explains why every month from December 2025 through June 2026 ran below the 1991-2020 baseline statewide, the longest such streak in nearly 50 years, tracing the cold to two distinct atmospheric patterns and regional sea-ice and snowpack feedbacks, not a fundamental shift in Alaska's long-term warming trend.
by Melinda Communities.News3w ago2 min readAI
Erosion is forcing Alaska to move the Noatak airport two miles west
The Noatak River has eroded to within about 160 feet of the village's airport — its only lifeline — so Alaska is moving the whole airport two miles west.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3d ago1 min readAI
Editors push to publish 2026 Arctic Report Card after NOAA drops support
NOAA dropped support for the Arctic Report Card after 20 years, but editors say they will publish the 2026 edition without federal backing.
by Walter AlaskaNews1d ago2 min readAI
Beaufort Sea nearly ice-locked in early July, a level unseen since before 2001
Satellite data and NSIDC analysis show the southern Beaufort Sea is almost entirely ice-covered in early July 2026, with only 0.3 percent open water, a condition that ranks among the highest ice extents in the satellite record and carries direct consequences for Arctic navigation and subsistence hunting.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
As Alaska's glaciers retreat, new carbon-storing bogs are forming behind them
As Alaska's glaciers retreat, new carbon-storing peat bogs are forming on the bare ground behind them. A UAF grant will map how they form and how long they last.
by Melinda Communities.News1w ago2 min readAI
Heatwave-driven mortality identified as key cause of Yukon Chinook crash
A new study pins the Yukon Chinook collapse on heatwave-driven deaths of young salmon at sea, not just low recruitment or overharvest, meaning harvest closures alone won't fix the crash.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
A strong El Niño is likely this winter, warm and wet for Southern Alaska
A strong El Niño is 90% likely this winter, tilting Southern Alaska warmer and wetter — but on the coast that often means rain over snow, and the Interior may stay dry.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago1 min readAI
Alaska's senators move to shore up the NSF office that funds most UA research
Alaska's senators want to make permanent the NSF office that funds most UA research — even as the Trump budget would cut NSF by more than half.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min readAI
More than 200 Alaska watersheds have turned orange
Uh-ohh. More than 200 Brooks Range watersheds have turned orange in a decade as thawing permafrost releases iron and metals — rusting rivers that villages drink from and fish.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Chukchi and Beaufort Seas carry most ice in decades, even as Arctic shrinks
While Arctic-wide sea ice ranks among the lowest on record, the Chukchi Sea hit its highest July 15 extent since 1994 and the Beaufort Sea tied its highest since 2006, according to NSIDC data, a regional anomaly with direct consequences for Alaska coastal access and subsistence timing.
by Melinda Communities.News3w ago1 min readAI
A tale of two Junes at the top of the world
Alaska's North Slope just had its coolest June since 2018 — even as the wider Arctic logged its warmest since 1950. Same month, opposite stories.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
Chukchi Sea ice runs above median for third straight late June
Chukchi Sea ice extent stood well above the 1991-2020 median as of Saturday, the third consecutive late June with that pattern, per ACCAP data — with high-concentration ice still hugging the Alaska coast north of Wainwright and the Beaufort Sea nearly ice-locked.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
The Gulf of Alaska's ocean station was saved. The funding still isn't.
The Gulf of Alaska's deep-sea monitoring station was saved from removal — but the money to keep the network Alaska's fisheries rely on is still unsettled.
by Melinda Communities.News2w ago2 min readAI
High water has Southcentral anglers waiting it out
Flooding has Southcentral anglers mostly sidelined — weirs underwater, creeks blown out, and 12-foot waves hitting the Kenai dipnet beaches.
by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min readAI
Alaska summer outlook leans warmer, but not as a simple El Niño story
El Niño is likely to emerge soon, but that does not guarantee stronger impacts in Alaska.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
Alaska eyes $3B carbon revenue from 600,000 burned acres
Alaska plans to earn over $3 billion by replanting 600,000 burned acres as carbon offsets over 20 years. • Work requires 5,000 tree planters yearly plus nurseries and equipment, creating seasonal jobs. • Carbon market collapsed in 2024 but is recovering, with oversupply ending in 18 to 24 months.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
60 mph gusts forecast for Portage, Anchorage Hillside Sunday
A Gulf of Alaska storm will bring sustained winds of 35-45 mph and gusts to 60 mph in Portage and the Anchorage Hillside from late Sunday morning through evening, with lighter winds in the Anchorage Bowl and blowing dust expected along the Glenn Highway near Palmer.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readAI
Heavy sea ice off Alaska's north coast keeps shipping routes shut
Sea ice off Alaska's north coast is the heaviest in over 20 years, keeping Arctic shipping routes shut and complicating the resupply coastal villages depend on.
by Melinda Communities.News1w ago1 min readAI
Taku River glacial outburst flood warning in effect until 11 p.m. tonight
A glacial lake outburst flood is underway on Juneau's Taku River, with a city alert until 11 p.m., bringing rapid water rises and debris to the river and Taku Inlet.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
Utqiaġvik records second-coldest May high in 105 years
Utqiaġvik recorded its second-coldest May high in 105 years at 29°F while most of the Arctic ran warm, triggering river ice jams that flooded Holy Cross and its airstrip in late May.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
Barents Sea hits record low ice while Beaufort stays locked, splitting Arctic in two
Barents Sea hit record low ice in June while Alaska's Beaufort Sea stayed locked, shifting when North Slope communities can hunt and travel.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago3 min readAI
Alyeschem breaks ground on North Slope methanol plant
Alyeschem broke ground May 15 on Alaska's first Arctic petrochemical plant at Prudhoe Bay, converting natural gas into methanol with AIDEA's $70 million financing and operations expected by late 2027.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
UAF scientist gets $300K to unlock permafrost's carbon time bomb
UAF scientist gets $300K to study which microbes activate when permafrost thaws and release carbon, a key step to understanding how much greenhouse gas could escape from Alaska's frozen soils.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
UAF scientist leads $36K Antarctic sea ice study amid record lows
UAF sea ice scientist Andrew Mahoney will lead a year-long study of Antarctic Ross Sea ice decline funded by the National Science Foundation with $36,000, running through March 2027.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
Alaska Energy Planners Design 50-Year Systems Using 2008 Weather Data
Alaska's power planners design 50-to-100-year systems using 2008 weather data that no longer matches current storm patterns, leaving utilities like AVEC to absorb emergency costs like the $100,000 helicopter rental after Typhoon Halong hit in 2025.
by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
AVCP chief executive presents on Arctic typhoons as Inuit assembly closes in Iqaluit
AVCP's CEO presented on Arctic typhoons at an Inuit assembly in Iqaluit, highlighting how Typhoon Halong destroyed homes and displaced hundreds in Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta villages in October 2025.
by Maggie AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago2 min readAI
Fairbanks spruce pollen hits season high in UAF count
Fairbanks spruce pollen hit a season record of 346 grains per cubic meter on June 5, according to University of Alaska Fairbanks counts that track allergy triggers and climate patterns.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
Permafrost Thaw Releases Unexpected Methane in Alaska Uplands
Research shows Alaska's thawing permafrost is releasing unexpected amounts of methane while coastal erosion threatens Native villages across the state.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min readAIAlyeska Seeks Land to Armor the Pipeline Against Floods
Alyeska wants more North Slope land to wall the pipeline off from flooding — the same week the rivers are rising, and a year after the Sag took out the Dalton Highway for real.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
As Alaska's permafrost thaws, its rivers are running rusty.
Thawing permafrost is leaching iron into Alaska's streams, turning some of them rusty orange and threatening subsistence fish — and a new Army contract will trace where it's coming from.
by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago1 min readAI
