climate change
Record low level of Bering Sea ice causes profound, widespread impacts
“This is an extreme event with immediate and long-lasting repercussions. It’s indicative of very rapid change in the entire northern Bering Sea ecosystem. It has ramifications for everyone in the region,” said lead author Rick Thoman, a climate specialist at the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy at the University of Alaska Fairbanks
Read MoreVigilance advised after saxitoxin found in clams
Scientists have detected toxic algae in clams from the Bering Strait and Chukchi Sea regions of northern and western Alaska, according to a new bulletin. It’s an indication that ocean warming is moving northward, allowing the growth of Alexandrium catenella, a type of algae that can produce saxitoxin. If ingested, saxitoxin targets the nervous system…
Read MoreKDLG Radio: City council weighs options as rapid erosion threatens Dillingham sewer
Erosion is eating away the coastline by Dillingham’s sewage lagoon. The city council held a meeting with contract engineers to discuss options for the lagoon before it’s too late. Alaska Sea Grant’s Gabe Dunham has studied the coastline by the lagoon since 2016. In a project with Alaska Sea Grant, Dunham and three other scientists installed three transects, including a camera, to measure how much land is being lost.
Read MoreKodiak workshop helps fishing community build resilience
More than 70 people gathered in Kodiak recently for a workshop to address how the island community can build resilience and adaptability in the face of climate change. The October 24–25, 2019 workshop focused on four topics identified by a local steering committee: fisheries futures, food security and subsistence, infrastructure and energy, and culture and…
Read MoreResearch will help seaweed farming and traditional aquaculture
Alaska Sea Grant has received new federal funds to help develop aquaculture projects in Alaska and to work with partners on regional and national priorities. It’s part of a $16 million award from National Sea Grant that will fund 42 collaborative aquaculture projects across the country. Alaska Sea Grant and the Aleutians East Borough will partner on a project to launch a…
Read MoreNew York Times publishes op-ed, co-authored by Gay Sheffield, on how sea ice loss imperils life in Alaska
The New York Times published a column by Vera Trainer, Rick Thoman and Gay Sheffield today about the dramatic extent of sea ice loss in Alaska and how it is affecting everything from plankton to whales and the residents who rely on marine resources for their wellbeing. Read the New York Times op-ed here. It…
Read MoreNYT Opinion: Where the sea ice recedes, so does an Alaska way of life
With climate change, animals that sustain Native hunters are disappearing, and harmful algae are contaminating waters. This opinion article was written by Gay Sheffield, Alaska Sea Grant marine advisory agent, Vera Trainer, president of the International Society for the Study of Harmful Algae, and Rick Thoman, climate expert at the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy.
Read MoreJuneau Empire: Tlingit and Haida commissioned a climate change report for Southeast Alaska. Here’s what they found.
The Climate Change Adaptation Plan, published in May with help from Alaska Sea Grant and the University of Arizona Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, is a document showing what’s happening to Southeast Alaska and how the tribes in the region can handle it.
Read MoreLack of sea ice sends seal pups and walrus calves to beach
It’s been a busy couple of months for members of the Alaska Marine Mammal Stranding Network, including Alaska Sea Grant’s Gay Sheffield, as they respond to multiple reports of dead ice seals along the coast of the Bering and Chukchi Seas. NOAA Fisheries reported in mid-June that at least 60 seals have recently washed up…
Read MoreSoutheast Alaska tribal council develops climate change plan
Climate change in Alaska’s high Arctic often captures headlines. Images of vanishing sea ice, dead seabirds, beached marine mammals, melting permafrost and houses tumbling into the ocean are common. Less media attention is directed to Southeast Alaska, an archipelago of hundreds of islands around a thin strip of mainland, blanketed by coastal temperate rainforest. But…
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