HIGHLIGHTS
» Alaska Climate Webinars
Next Webinar:
Wednesday, September 26, 2012; 10-11am Alaska Local Time
CLIMATE CHANGE AND POTENTIAL IMPACTS ON BRISTOL BAY SOCKEYE SALMON POPULATIONS
Rebecca Aicher, Science and Technology Policy Fellow for the American Association for the Advancement of Science hosted by the U.S. EPA; and Jason Todd & Joe Ebersole, Office of Research and Development, U.S. EPA
Scientific research has shown that climate change has already caused detectable changes to ecosystems throughout Alaska. As warming is predicted to continue, it is likely to lead to changes in marine and freshwater aquatic ecosystems and impact salmon populations in Bristol Bay, Alaska. In order to better predict how salmon will respond to climate change in both freshwater and marine ecosystems, it is crucial to evaluate the current knowledge of how the salmon and ecosystem are responding and identify key gaps in knowledge. This webinar will describe a conceptual model that is used to synthesize results from over 150 peer-reviewed journal articles to describe current trends in salmon populations, responses to climate change, predicted responses to climate change, and research needs in Alaska.
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The 2012 Summer Alaska Climate Dispatch is available on-line
Contents include a summer fire season outlook, spring weather summary, sea ice update, summer outlook, and upcoming ACCAP events.
Download the Dispatch
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Announcing a new Alaska Cryosphere Newsletter from ACCAP, DGGS, UAF, and the DOI-CSC
We need your contributions! As follow up to the June 2011
Cryosphere Hazards workshop hosted by ACCAP, DGGS, and UAF we invite you to contribute to a new bi-annual newsletter focused on cryosphere research in Alaska: snow, floating ice (sea and river), lake ice, glaciers and permafrost. We aim to build a cryosphere research and stakeholder community of practice in Alaska, encourage research collaboration, and disseminate information among interested parties. Do you have any newsworthy items such as major field projects, up-coming workshops, etc? Do you have a particular interest or information need that you would like to read or learn more about? Please send questions, pictures or contributions of interest to
Alessio Gusmeroli by Wednesday October 3, 2013. Please keep contributions under 200 words. If you want to be added to the listserve to receive the bi-annual cryosphere newsletter, please e-mail
Brook Gamble.
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Final report from the Alaska Cliomes Project and the Canada Cliomes Project
This Scenarios Network for Alaska and Arctic Planning (SNAP) led collaborative project offers the public, including land managers, government agencies, communities, businesses, academics and nonprofits, a new perspective on how climate change affects northern ecosystems. Project results suggest some major changes in these cliomes and the ecosystems associated with them.
Download the report here
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New Arctic pages available on the Alaska Ocean Observing Systems website, including:
Development of a new Arctic sea ice atlas (in collaboration with ACCAP)
Spatial Tools for Arctic Mapping and Planning (STAMP, in collaboration with ACCAP)
Ocean acidification monitoring (in collaboration with ACCAP Scientist Jeremy Mathis)
The Arctic Research Assets Map
Access Arctic data portals
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NOAA 2011 Arctic Report Card Released
The 2011 Report Card shows that record-setting changes are occurring throughout the Arctic environmental system. Given the projection of continued global warming, it is very likely that major Arctic changes will continue in years to come, with increasing climatic, physical, biological and socio-economic impacts.
Among the 2011 highlights:
Atmosphere: In 2011, the average annual near-surface air temperatures over much of the Arctic Ocean were approximately 2.5° F (1.5° C) greater than the 1981-2010 baseline period.
Sea ice: Minimum Arctic sea ice area in September 2011 was the second lowest recorded by satellite since 1979.
Ocean: Arctic Ocean temperature and salinity may be stabilizing after a period of warming and freshening. Acidification of sea water ("ocean acidification") as a result of carbon dioxide absorption has also been documented in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas.
Land: Arctic tundra vegetation continues to increase and is associated with higher air temperatures over most of the Arctic land mass.
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New climate change oral history project by Project Jukebox
The 'Stakeholders' project brings rural community members and university scientists into discussions about climate and environmental change in Alaska. The communities of Tanana, Ft. Yukon, and Chalkyitsik are the focus of the effort and interviews are arranged by stakeholder and topic on the website. ACCAP's Sarah Trainor and SNAP's Nancy Fresco contributed to this project. 'Stakeholders' is sponsored by the International Arctic Research Center (IARC) and funded by the National Science Foundation. Project Jukebox is the digital branch of the Oral History Program and provides access to audio and video recordings, transcripts, maps, historic photographs and films from across Alaska.
Browse the Stakeholders project website
View Stakeholders project final poster (7M PDF)
