Title: Alaska’s Changing Environment | IARC
Headings: Alaska's Changing Environment 2019
Alaska's Changing Environment 2019
Documenting Alaska's physical and biological changes through observations
Seasons
Big fire seasons more frequent
Dramatically more smoky days
Storminess not increasing
River break-up happening earlier

Content: Freezing rain
Freezing rain can pose significant threats to safety and wildlife. During the last decade, the number of winters with freezing rain in Fairbanks more than doubled what was typical for the 1930–2000 period. School day cancellations associated with freezing rain have also increased in recent years. In winters with heavy ice accumulation on vegetation, caribou die-offs have occurred because animals are unable to access their food. Annual precipitation increasing
Over the past half century, annual precipitation has increased in all regions of the state. The best available estimates over the century time-scale suggest Alaska as a whole was relatively wet early in the 20th century, then drier from the 1940s–1990s, and wetter again recently. A rainforest ... drought? While precipitation over long time-scales is increasing, year-to-year variability remains important. Southeast Alaska is one of the wettest areas in the world. Below is the Standardized Precipitation Index for the region.