Arctic

While most of the cause has been attributed to a warming Arctic climate, a new study from the University of Alaska Fairbanks has found evidence that warming waters outside of the Arctic are impacting sea ice as well.

Several Alaska energy researchers will be featured in a national conference this week of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission. 

Blizzards and winter storms battered the Seward Peninsula and surrounding region throughout the month of March, but the sea ice has proved more resilient than in recent years.

With oil and gas leasing on pause, the federal government is gathering input as it reviews its energy program.

Experts said the Coast Guard cutter Healy’s trip through the Northwest Passage signifies a willingness to cooperate between Canada and the United States.

Andrysiak also said the Army wants to revive relationships with Alaska Native communities to teach soldiers Indigenous survival skills.

The federal government is extending the public comment period for proposed critical habitat for ringed and bearded seals.

The Native Village of Kaktovik is speaking out against the Biden administration, claiming their tribe wasn’t consulted about an agreement President Biden made with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau regarding protections of the porcupine caribou herd in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The U.S. Interior Department said there would be no searching for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge this winter because Kaktovik Iñupiat Corp. failed to meet a key deadline. In a strongly-worded statement Thursday, KIC said the Interior provided a “blatant mischaracterization” of what happened.

The missed deadline effectively kills the corporation’s proposal to use seismic exploration to search for oil in part of the Arctic refuge’s coastal plain this winter.