Environment

All Alaska news stories about the environment, climate and weather. Could also include topics like animal die-offs related to the environment.

a fire blazes

Alaska sends firefighters, air tanker to help with Alberta’s ‘unprecedented’ early wildfire season

“This is the first time that we’ve sent a crew to Canada in May,” said Lily Coyle with the Alaska Division of Forestry and Fire Protection.
a man in a suit

A dozen executive orders from Gov. Dunleavy draw scrutiny

The orders are largely aimed at eliminating or reorganizing state boards and commissions, and some lawmakers are skeptical.

New salmon-counting technique treats Alaska stream like a crime scene

Oregon State University Professor Taal Levi has spent the past several years exploring whether a new technology called environmental DNA, or eDNA, can be used to count salmon.
halibut

Fishing guides at a Petersburg lodge charged with over 50 violations

State and federal officers were involved in the investigations, including undercover officers posing as fishing clients.
cyclone damage

Cut emissions quickly to save lives, scientists warn in a new U.N. report

World leaders already have many options to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and protect people, according to the United Nations report.

More areas around Kodiak Island could become critical habitat for endangered North Pacific Right Whales

It’s estimated that less than 50 North Pacific Right Whales exist today in a range that extends from Hawaii to the southeastern Bering Sea and beyond.
a bear and a trash can

Hoonah gives residents bear-resistant trash cans but most of Southeast Alaska can’t afford them

Hoonah is a small community on the northeastern side of Chichagof Island. The island has the world’s densest population of brown bears.

A new fish processor is buoying King Cove’s fishermen. But now the town’s finances are sinking.

The opening of a new processing plant in a nearby village has reduced frustrations for fishermen in King Cove, who were long frustrated at the limited market for their catch. But with the fish being sold elsewhere, the town of King Cove itself is now contending with a massive budget hole caused by a crash in fish tax revenue.

Alaskans protest North Dakota pipeline by paddling in solidarity

Members of the One People Canoe Society from Juneau paddled in unison today down the Missouri River in North Dakota. The trip is a show of solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux who are protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline Project. A federal court is expected to rule on whether pipeline construction goes forward tomorrow.
small bodies of water dot the tundra

Corps to reconsider permit rejection for proposed Pebble mine

It's a partial win for Pebble on appeal, but mine developers also have an EPA veto to contend with.
cruise ship passengers in Juneau

City and cruise lines agree to future limits on tourism as first ship of the season docks in Juneau

Major cruise lines have agreed to a daily limit of five ships visiting Juneau starting next year — but some locals say that doesn't go far enough.
a pillow and other debris washed on a rocky beach

Juneau leaders declare local emergency after record flooding

The city has condemned eight buildings, displacing about 20 households.

Arctic Sea ice at second lowest level on record

Arctic Sea ice retreated to its second lowest level on record this summer. Scientists announced today the ice likely reached it s lowest extent on September 10th. The Arctic Ocean ended the summer season with 1.6 million square miles of ice, tying 2007 for the second lowest amount. Listen now

State asks U.S. Supreme Court to reverse EPA’s veto of Pebble Mine

The EPA “confiscated state property and created a de facto national park," the state argues.
a whale

NOAA is looking for 2 humpback whales entangled in fishing gear near Juneau

The whales were spotted Monday at Fritz Cove and Taku Inlet, entangled in a crab pot line and gillnet gear respectively.

Trump’s Interior secretary takes first baby step on King Cove road

There was a bit of a victory Monday for supporters of a proposed road in Southwest Alaska that would connect the village of King Cove to an airport at Cold Bay via the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge. Listen now

China seeks bigger role in Arctic

China issued its first national policy on the Arctic, and it reveals expansive ambitions in the far North. "China is stepping into the power vacuum of global leadership since the Trump administration came to power." Listen now
Newtok storm debris

Fall storm expected to bring winds, flooding to parts of Alaska

A forecaster said the latest storm is on a “very different track” than September’s powerful storm, and its main impacts will be felt farther north.
a fogbow

Russian objection to U.S. territorial claims off Alaska complicates maritime relationship

The response shows how failure to ratify the Convention on the Law of the Sea puts the U.S. at a disadvantage, says Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
a map of fires

Lightning strikes spark new wave of Interior Alaska wildfires

Alaska Fire Service spokeswoman Beth Ipsen says the agency recorded 7,000 lightning strikes around the Interior overnight Monday.