HIGHLIGHTS
» Alaska Climate Webinars
Upcoming Webinars:
Tuesday, February 19, 2013; 10-11AM
Food Security in the Kenai Peninsula: A Report on Local Seafood Use, Consumer Preferences, and Community Needs
Philip Loring, Alaska Center for Climate Assessment & Policy
This webinar presents data from the final report of a survey implemented in late 2011 to explore use of local seafood by residents of the Kenai Peninsula, and their role in providing for food security. One motivation for this study was to provide the background data necessary for exploring the possible vulnerabilities of these communities to changes in local fisheries, including as a result of climate change. We found extensive use of local fisheries by local residents, and that access to locally caught seafood improves household food security, especially for lowest-income households. We also found that the existing systems for marketing and distributing local seafood leaves some local residents without access. Opportunities for strengthening the local food system will be discussed, as will the question of vulnerability to challenges such as climate change.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013; 10-11AM
The National Climate Assessment, Alaska Chapter
Sarah Trainor & John Walsh, Alaska Center for Climate Assessment & Policy
Tuesday, April 16, 2013; 10-11AM
Downscaled Snow Projections for Alaska
Stephanie McAfee, Alaska Climate Science Center
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The Third National Climate Assessment is now available for public comment! The National Climate Assessment (NCA) is produced every four years by the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). The public comment period for the report is January 14 - April 12, 2013. All comments must be submitted via the online comment tool beginning on January 14. The draft report is a product of the NCADAC and is not a product of the federal government. The authors of the report will use the comments received during the public comment period to revise the report before submitting it to the government for consideration.
Download the draft report here
View the ACCAP NCA project page here
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Inaugural Issue of Changing Ice: A newsletter of Cryosphere Research in Alaska
Cryosphere changes in the Alaska region in the last decade have been dramatic. Widespread glacier retreat, reduction of summer sea ice, decreased snow season, thawing permafrost, and thinner and less durable freshwater ice are among the clearest signs of worldwide climate change. Everyone who lives, works, or does business in Alaska will need to adapt to changes in the cryosphere. In this Newsletter we highlight projects and discoveries led by Alaskan scientists engaged in cryosphere research with the hope to create a tool that allows efficient communication between scientists and
stakeholders.
Download the newsletter here
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The National Climate Assessment Alaska Technical Report is now available! The National Climate Assessment (NCA) is produced every four years by the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). This report details trends and potential outcomes resulting from a changing climate in Alaska. In addition, authors describe new science leadership activities that have been initiated to address and provide guidance toward conducting research aimed at making available information for policy makers and land management agencies to better understand, address, and plan for changes to the local and regional environment.
Download the report here
View the ACCAP NCA project page here
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2012 Arctic Report Card Released
Highlights include record low snow extent and low sea ice extent occurred in June and September, respectively; growing season length is increasing along with tundra greenness and above-ground biomass; massive phytoplankton blooms below summer sea ice suggest previous estimates of ocean primary productivity might be ten times too low; severe weather events included extreme cold and snowfall in Eurasia, and two major storms with deep central pressure and strong winds offshore of western and northern Alaska.
View the 2012 Arctic Report Card
Interpretive graphics developed by the Climate.gov team
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New report on Seasonal-to-Decadal Predictions of Arctic Sea Ice: Challenges and Strategies . ACCAP Co-Investigator John Walsh is Co-Chair to the NRC Committee on the Future of Arctic Sea Ice Research in Support of Seasonal-to-Decadal Predictions.
Download the report here
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Conservation Biology journal article from ACCAP Co-Investigator Philip Loring
Loring expresses concern for long-term food security and the disenfranchisement of subsistence rights for Native Alaska fishermen. He provides three examples that suggest that the purported sustainability of these fisheries may be an illusion. With challenges like rising food insecurity in rural Alaska, and recent king salmon failures across the state, he highlights the need to examine management approachs.
Download the PDF: Alternative Perspectives on the Sustainability of Alaska's Commercial Fisheries
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The 2012 Autumn Alaska Climate Dispatch is available on-line
Contents include an overview of the Alaska-Canada Cliomes Project, results of the Alaska Climate Research Center's solar radiation experiments, summer weather summary, sea ice update, 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
