The population of Steller’s sea lions is declining so rapidly in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands that the Obama administration is calling for the emergency closure of commercial mackerel and cod fishing there. The fishing industry, largely based in Seattle, is alarmed and worried such measures could eventually lead to restrictions on parts of the $1 billion-a-year […]
Data on wildland fires in the United States show that the number of acres burned per fire has increased since the 1980s. In the western United States, both the frequency of large wildfires and the length of the fire season have increased substantially in recent decades, due primarily to earlier spring snowmelt and higher spring […]
Loss of sea ice is unlikely to enable Arctic waters to mop up more carbon dioxide from the air. By Hannah Hoag As climate scientists watched the Arctic’s sea-ice cover shrink year after year, they thought there might be a silver lining: an ice-free Arctic Ocean could soak up large amounts of CO2 from the […]
By DAN JOLING (AP) – 10 July 2010 ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Interior Department is offering oil and gas leases on 1.8 million acres of Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve while promising to protect critical migratory bird and caribou habitat. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Friday that the Bureau of Land Management will offer 190 tracts, […]
By Ker Than for National Geographic News Published May 21, 2010 If the Gulf of Mexico oil spill kills just three sperm whales, it could seriously endanger the long-term survival of the Gulf’s native whale population, scientists say. Right now between 1,400 and 1,660 sperm whales live year-round in the Gulf of Mexico, making up […]
By The Associated Press May 21, 2010, 3:35PM ANCHORAGE — The director of the Minerals Management Service in Alaska is apologizing to colleagues for having a cake at a recent meeting with the words “Drill, Baby, Drill” on it. In an e-mail Thursday to agency employees nationwide, Regional Director John Goll says it was wrong […]
ScienceDaily (May 6, 2010) — Among the worrisome environmental effects of global warming is the thawing of Arctic permafrost — soil that normally remains at or below the freezing point for at least a two-year period and often much longer. Monitoring changes in permafrost is difficult with current methods, but a study by University of […]
STRANDED: With nowhere to go they stay on land, creating hazard. By KYLE HOPKINSkhopkins@adn.com Published: May 3rd, 2010 02:23 PMLast Modified: May 3rd, 2010 03:14 PM For $16 an hour, Morgan VanHatten patrolled the streets of Kaktovik in a Ford pickup last fall armed with a 12-gauge shotgun and an iPhone full of Lil Wayne. […]
The BP Gulf Coast rig explosion is a horrible human, economic, and environmental disaster. The death of 11 employees is tragic. The spill could devastate the Gulf Coast commercial and sport fishing industries for years to come. Louisiana’s seafood industry alone is worth $2 billion annually. This is the biggest U.S. economic and environmental disaster […]
Scientists in Alaska have discovered that lingering oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill is still being ingested by some wildlife more than 20 years after the disaster. The research, published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, uses biomarkers to reveal long-term exposure to oil in harlequin ducks and demonstrates how consequences of oil spills are […]
