Climate Change

The ways Sitka could and is being affected by climate change are numerous: the impact of warming oceans on the fishing industry, landslides, increased pest activity in the Tongass, more intense storms impacting utilities — the list could go on.

The energy and climate section of this 5,000-page bill is labeled “Division Z,” and it is its own kind of huge. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has been working on it for years. 

With the first-ever oil lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge just two days away, a federal judge in Anchorage will consider a request Monday to stop the Trump administration from issuing the oil leases.

Scientists aren’t sure why the razor clam crash started about a decade ago. What they do know is that stocks aren’t rebounding.

On the east coast, these hardy crustaceans are known as aggressive eaters and have meant millions of dollars lost in fisheries for clams, mussels and scallops. The crab are destructive to eelgrass beds, which are important to young fish. They’re also known to eat juvenile salmon and could compete with native Dungeness crab.

Last week’s storm and landslides revealed that much of Haines, where there are no building codes, wasn’t constructed with landslides in mind.

A veritable fire hose of moisture hit Southeast Alaska last week. It was a historic weather event, the likes of which we might see more often as Earth’s climate continues to warm.

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

A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with environmental groups, saying the agency’s review of drilling impacts was inadequate.

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.