The Weekend Off: News You Missed
Alaska NYTimes- Polar Bears’ Path to Decline Runs Through Alaskan Village KAKTOVIK, Alaska — Come fall, polar bears are everywhere around this Arctic village, dozing on sand spits, roughhousing in the shallows, padding down the beach with cubs in tow and attracting hundreds of tourists who travel long distances to see them. ADN – Fire destroys building at Ice Alaska park in Fairbanks A large Fairbanks building was destroyed by an hourslong fire Friday morning, drawing dozens of firefighters but no reports of any injuries. Alaska Public Media – Fracking in Alaska: Who should weigh in? The state agency that oversees oil…
The Weekend Off – News You Missed
Alaska The Guardian – ‘Next year or the year after, the Arctic will be free of ice’ Scientist Peter Wadhams believes the summer ice cover at the north pole is about to disappear, triggering even more rapid global warming KUOW – Threatened By Rising Seas, Alaska Village Decides To Relocate Rising sea levels have eroded an Inupiat Eskimo village for decades. Now, residents of Shishmaref, Alaska, have officially voted to relocate. ADN.com – The Arctic Circle may be more than 400 miles north, but Seward has become an Arctic port In this picturesque Alaska port town more than 400 miles south…
Open Thread: Game of Thrones, Arctic Style
The Ocean Conservancy just dropped this stunning parody video to promote their new report on the effect drilling on the Arctic. It’s worth a watch and the report is of course, worth a read. I’ve been down with a mindblowing flu the last week, so I apologize for the lack of updates on the site – anything I would have written probably wouldn’t have made much sense anyway. So what have I missed Mudpuppies!?! What news have I missed in this 5 day feverish haze that I’ve been in…?
Watch for Aurora Click Bait
Every once in a while over the last month or so, I have been seeing worrisome queries on aurora interest pages on Facebook. It all started with a classic click-bait headline, “2016 Is Your Last Chance to See the Northern Lights Before They Vanish.” How accurate is this? Is this true? These are some of the questions that introduce the post to others. The very easy, accurate and simple answer is, “Absolutely not. It’s complete hogwash.” Of course, once you click on the article, you get a rather perfunctory explanation of the solar cycle, and how the sun’s activity peaks…
The Weekend Off – News You Missed
Alaska The Guardian – Record high Arctic temperatures in 2015 having ‘profound effects’ on region The Arctic experienced record air temperatures and a new low in peak ice extent during 2015, with scientists warning that climate change is having “profound effects” on the entire marine ecosystem and the indigenous communities that rely upon it. Newsminer – Near-hurricane force winds expected near Delta, Alaska Range Two storms packing winds of 50 to 90 mph are aiming for Delta Junction and Alaska Range passes today through mid-week. AP News – Alaska’s Inuit link steady food supply to environment health Alaska Inuit hunter John Goodwin for…
The Weekend Off – News You Missed
Alaska ADN – Locals, biologists free polar bear caught in fishing net in Arctic Alaska Kaktovik residents and visiting biologists worked together to free a large polar bear that became entangled in a fishing net near a Beaufort Sea barrier island Saturday night. Smithsonian – Denali and America’s Long History of Using (or Not Using) Indian Names For American Indians, place names always tell something about the location, they aim to express the essence of the place, or its dominating characteristic or idea. As Europeans settled on the continent and early pioneers explored, they often gave places new names…
The Weekend Off – News You Missed
Alaska ADN – Begich unveils consulting firm, will work in aviation and health care Former Alaska U.S. Sen. Mark Begich said Saturday that he’d founded a consulting firm and would work for a health care trade organization and an Alaska airline, Grant Aviation.Begich, a one-term Democrat who last year lost his re-election bid to Republican Dan Sullivan, said in a press release that he’d been hired by the airline and by the National Association for Home Care and Hospice. Juneau Empire – Female AKNG boss is one of few in country When Gov. Bill Walker announced Friday that retired U.S. Army…
The Weekend Off – News You Missed
Alaska ADN – Wasilla mayoral candidate’s war against ‘police state’ includes long-ago urge to ambush Vegas officers Loren Means, a candidate for Wasilla mayor and a current city planning commissioner, once stalked and planned to ambush Las Vegas jail officers, and this summer he told a Wasilla police officer that a head shot was the only way to kill an officer wearing body armor. An email about the Las Vegas incident as well as several encounters with local police surfaced Thursday in a packet Mayor Verne Rupright distributed to the Wasilla City Council. Juneau Empire – Suspicious tree fires puzzle Forest Service…
The Weekend Off – News You Missed
Alaska ADN.com – Archaeologists rush to save ancient Yup’ik treasures threatened by melting permafrost QUINHAGAK — On the eroding Bering Sea coast of far Western Alaska, archaeologists from around the world are unearthing remnants of an ancient Yup’ik village frozen in place for hundreds of years. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner – Court agrees to review Alaska Roadless Rule case ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A full federal appeals court will review the decision allowing Alaska’s Tongass National Forest to be exempt from federal restrictions on road-building and timber harvests in “roadless” areas.” NY Times – Shell Submits a Plan for New Exploration of Alaskan…
Arctic Oil Spill Readiness Virtually Nonexistent
Report: Arctic Oil Spill Readiness Virtually Nonexistent (via Desmogblog) Thu, 2014-04-24 11:16Farron Cousins Sea ice in the Arctic Circle is currently melting at a pace far greater than scientists had originally projected. While this is bad news for the planet — sea ice helps reflect the sun’s rays and keeps the arctic…