Wesley Early, Alaska's Energy Desk - Kotzebue

This year was the second warmest on record in the Arctic, with impacts to sea ice, erosion and marine ecosystems.

Officials say the fuel was transferred from a city fuel tank to the plant tank, though the transfer was left unattended for about 7 1/2 hours before the operator was alerted to the spill and shut off the valve at roughly 10 p.m.

Kivalina sits on a barrier island, surrounded by the Chukchi Sea. The area is prone to heavy wind and rainstorms. The protection of sea ice has become less reliable and sea levels have risen with climate change.

Last year saw the lowest fall sea ice extent in the Chukchi Sea on record — and this year’s sea ice extent is still way below the historical average.

Scientists have found that as sea ice has dwindled in Arctic waters, a new predator has moved in to feed on the marine mammals: killer whales.

“You’re going into the region to the land where people own,” said assembly member Walter Sampson. “And we expect companies to make sure that they take their word to make sure that regional employees are the number one in this region to be hired.”

Since 2007, walruses have been hauling out on land between their hunts. Before they’d populate sea ice patches, but that hasn’t been reliable in recent years.

Thoman says that temperatures have been considerably warmer on average since about 2012.

The patient’s willingness to volunteer for the test is ultimately what allowed for Kotzebue health officials to detect it.

The Baldwin Peninsula near Kotzebue has seen a massive increase in beavers over the last two decades, according to new research from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.