Arctic

“This is a very new type of model which simulates each piece of the ice flow, like little polygons moving around,” Zhang said. “So, when I first saw that model, I said, ‘Oh, this is really cool. It can be really useful for coastal communities to get the sense of how the ice moves around.’”

This fall, ice coverage was at a near-historic low. Now, as winter sets in, local observers and researchers believe fall storms may have caused much thinner ice conditions than normal.

U.S. researchers are normally restricted to U.S. boundaries. Researcher Paul Conn with NOAA says that the process can be limiting since the polar bears travel between sea ice in both Russia and the United States.

More than 200 researchers from around the country signed an open letter to the foundation last month, requesting more Indigenous input to the initiative.

The Obama administration listed the Arctic ringed seal under the Endangered Species Act in 2012, citing the effects of climate change on the ringed seal’s sea ice habitat.

For subsistence hunters in the northern parts of Alaska, the bowhead whale has been a part of their diet for generations. However, 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.

New research from the University of Alaska Fairbanks utilizing radar instruments positioned on satellites has led to a breakthrough in lake methane emission research.

The pilot of a charter plane is dead after crashing near Teshekpuk Lake southeast of Utqiagvik Thursday night.