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: Alaska’s Changing Environment | IARC
Alaska's Changing Environment 2019
Documenting Alaska's physical and biological changes through observations
Alaska has recently experienced profound environmental change related to extreme weather events and deviations from the historical climate. Sustained warmth, sea ice loss, coastal flooding, river flooding, and major ecosystem changes have impacted the daily lives of Alaskans around the state. Temperatures have been consistently warmer than at any time in the past century. This warming varies greatly across the state, with northern and western regions warming at twice the rate of southeastern Alaska. The growing season has increased substantially in most areas, and the snow cover season has shortened. Precipitation overall has increased, and like temperature, the changes vary regionally. The ocean around Alaska is now regularly warmer than at any time in the past 150 years, affecting everything from algae to fisheries and human health. Coastal flooding during the autumn storm season has occurred on the Bering Sea coast throughout history, but recent winters have brought record low ice, which in the past has served as a buffer to big Bering Sea storms. This has resulted in out-of-season flooding occurring in places expecting stable sea ice. We have compiled observations through August 2019 about the major changes currently affecting Alaska's physical and biological systems.