Frostbites

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing challenges for Alaska Natives in accessing traditional and store-bought foods.

The Arctic sea ice has a story to tell. To better understand this story has been one of the primary objectives of the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC).

The Arctic is rapidly changing in response to rising greenhouse gas concentrations. To better prepare for Arctic change, reliable predictions are needed across a range of timescales.

NOAA’s Barrow Atmospheric Baseline Observatory is located 8 km northeast of the City of Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow) and very near the northernmost point of the U.S.

The Bering Sea is the third largest semi-enclosed sea in the world and forms the transition between the subarctic North Pacific Ocean and the Arctic Ocean. This article focuses on the eastern shelf, which has an exceptionally productive ecosystem, supporting large numbers of seabirds and marine mammals, subsistence harvests for native communities across Alaska, and more than 40% of the annual U.S. catch of fish and shellfish.

The Bering Sea is home to over 70 Indigenous communities of the Iñupiat, Central Yup’ik, Cup’ik, St. Lawrence Island Yupik, Unangan, and Chukchi Peoples. We are peoples of the world’s richest sea. We study the ocean and weather as a way of life, as a means for survival. The Bering Sea is undergoing changes that have never been observed in our lifetimes, but were foreseen by our elders decades ago.

As we watch the ongoing rapid loss of Arctic sea ice, freshwater ice, permafrost, and spring snow cover, the corresponding amplified warming of the Arctic region (AAW) continues to increase. These disturbing changes to a key component of the Earth’s climate system has spawned a blizzard of new studies that reveal influences of AAW on weather patterns within and beyond the Arctic.

Warming air temperatures and associated major reductions in the Arctic sea ice cover are driving increases in ocean temperature and changes to circulation patterns in the region. These changes are expected to impact the biogeographic boundaries of a range of marine species. For example, it is anticipated that many organisms may migrate northward or become more abundant as air and ocean temperatures continue to warm. However, few pose such significant threats to human and ecosystem health as harmful algal bloom (HAB) species.

Marine plastic pollution is a major concern for the global oceans since an estimated 8 million tons of plastic are released from land into the ocean each year.

Landfast ice is an essential component of the coastal sea ice system. Acting as a floating extension of the land, landfast ice is the most accessible form of sea ice and the one most often encountered by people.