Climate Change in Alaska and the Arctic
Related ACCAP Webinars (Please see the archive page for a complete list)
Thursday, November 17, 2011
A HUMAN HEALTH PERSPECTIVE ON CLIMATE CHANGE: PROMOTING COMMUNITY-BASED ADAPTATION PLANNING FOR CLIMATE CHANGE IN ALASKA
Tenaya Sunbury and David Driscoll, Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies, University of Alaska Anchorage
Increasing average temperatures in Arctic regions are affecting human health through multiple pathways, such as changes to the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events and changes in the geographic range and occurrence of infectious and chronic diseases. Following several reports of current and potential human health impacts from climate change, the Institute of Circumpolar Health Studies (ICHS) developed and implemented a monitoring system to capture baseline human health and ecosystem data from three ecologically distinct regions of Alaska. In this presentation, Drs. Driscoll and Sunbury describe the monitoring system and the information it provides for improving public-health decision making.
View the webinar video (52 MB MP4)
Listen to the webinar podcast
Presentation/Slides: A Human Health Perspective on Climate Change
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
ALASKA AND THE NATIONAL CLIMATE ASSESSMENT: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY AND HOW YOU CAN BE INVOLVED
Sarah Trainor, Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy and Carl Markon, US Geological Survey
ACCAP, the USGS, and other groups state-wide are collaborating to create a technical report of the state of knowledge about climate change impacts and response in Alaska that will be used in writing the Alaska Regional Chapter of the 2013 National Climate Assessment. Join this webinar to learn more about who is involved, the subject and content areas of the report, our process, time-line, and how you can provide input.
View the webinar video (52 MB MP4)
Listen to the webinar podcast
Presentation/Slides: Alaska and the National Climate Assessment
Download the 2000 Alaska Regional report
Download the 2009 Alaska Regional report
Learn more about ACCAP's role in the 2013 NCA
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
CLIMATE CHANGE IN ALASKA: FROM WEATHER TO WHETHER
James Partain, NOAA Regional Climate Services Director, Alaska Region
This webinar will highlight many of the impacts from climate change on Alaska's weather. These impacts span the range of environmental impacts from Aviation to Volcanic Ash and everything in between. The presentation and discussion period will provide information and develop a shared understanding about links between climate change and weather and how these links drive the services, decision-support, research & development, and policy of NOAA. We will also discuss the future directions being planned for more focused, collaborative approaches to dealing with climate change adaptation in Alaska and the hurdles & pitfalls that potentially litter the way.
View the webinar video (52 MB MP4)
Listen to the webinar podcast
Presentation/Slides: Climate Change in Alaska: Weather to Whether
Listen to the KUAC FM Radio story: Newscast Wednesday 6/22/11
Read the Fairbanks Daily News Miner article: NOAA: Climate Service coming to Alaska
Read the Alaskapublic.org article: NOAA Calls for Creation of Climate Change Agency
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
WHAT DOES THE NATIONAL OCEAN POLICY MEAN FOR THE ARCTIC REGION?
Cheryl Rosa, Deputy Director, US Arctic Research Commission, Anchorage, Alaska
Mary Boatman, Ocean Policy Advisor, National Ocean Council, Executive Office of the President
In July 2010, President Obama announced a commitment to implement a new National Ocean Policy. What does this mean for the Arctic region, which was specifically highlighted in a “priority objective” in the National Ocean Policy? Efforts to address our stewardship responsibilities in the Arctic Ocean and adjacent coastal areas, in the face of climate-induced and other environmental changes, would greatly benefit from input from local and regional experts. We welcome your input to help identify the critical actions that need to be taken to address environmental stewardship needs in the region. Please join us to learn about the National Ocean Policy efforts to develop a strategic action plan for the changing conditions in the Arctic, and to share your comments, questions, and ideas.
View the webinar video (46 MB MP4)
Listen to the webinar podcast
Presentation/Slides: Developing a national ocean policy
Question & Answer summary from the webinar
Tuesday July 13, 2010
10:00-11am Alaska Local Time
ALASKA CLIMATE DISPATCH: A STATE-WIDE SEASONAL SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK
John Walsh, International Arctic Research Center; Sarah Trainor, ACCAP; and Gerd Wendler, Alaska Climate Research Center
The Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy is developing a prototype climate information tool in partnership with the Alaska Climate Research Center, SEARCH Sea Ice Outlook, National Centers for Environmental Prediction, and the National Weather Service. The quarterly Alaska Climate Dispatch will provide seasonal weather and climate summaries as well as Alaska weather, wildfire, and sea ice outlooks in one easily accessible document. It will be distributed electronically and made available on the ACCAP website. Please join us for a preview of this new tool and discussion about how it can best serve your seasonal weather and climate information needs to be most useful to you.
Presentation/Slides: Alaska Climate Dispatch: A state-wide seasonal summary and outlook
Download the Alaska Climate Dispatch: Spring/Summer 2010
January 26, 2010
DECISION-MAKING FOR AT-RISK COMMUNITIES IN A CHANGING CLIMATE
Dan White, Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy
Many communities in Alaska are faced with multiple threats to infrastructure and quality of life due, in part, to projected changes in precipitation, temperature, and related incidences of flooding and erosion. Decision-makers must determine how best to manage their community's vulnerability with the knowledge that future environmental change is uncertain. This webinar will discuss a newly released report "Decision-making for at-risk communities in a changing climate" prepared by the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy. The report is intended to inform decision-makers relating to climate change and uncertainty, risk management, and relocation planning. Issues addressed regarding the planning process for relocation focus on the steps from planning through execution, perspectives on community engagement, partial relocation, site development costs, and timing. Sustainability recommendations focus on defining sustainability, future energy planning, planning for a changing cost of living, and available transportation corridors. Join this webinar to learn more about decision-making for at-risk communities in a changing climate.
Listen to the webinar Podcast
Presentation/Slides: Decision-making for at-risk communities in a changing climate
Download the Report: Decision-making for at-risk communities in a changing climate
December 8, 2009
CONNECTING ALASKA LANDSCAPES INTO THE FUTURE
Nancy Fresco, Scenarios Network for Alaska Planning, and Karen Murphy, US Fish and Wildlife Service
Understanding how climate change will affect biodiversity and traditional subsistence is a common challenge faced by Federal, State, Native, and private land managers. The Connecting Alaska Landscapes into the Future project (Connectivity Project) was a consensus-based effort that included the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and University of Alaska researchers as well as state and federal agency and non-profit partners. The project’s goal was to develop the methodology and thought processes to identify a network of lands that support ecosystem functions to ensure landscape-level connectivity within Alaska given climate change using data that are available today.
In order to model projected changes in statewide biomes and in potential habitat for key species, we gathered data on existing conditions and linked these to models of future conditions, using climate projection data from SNAP, input from project participants, and complex statistical models. With feedback from participants, we refined these models and used them as basis for creating maps of potential future statewide connectivity.
The proof-of-concept results presented in this report are preliminary and are not intended to be proscriptive, but rather to serve as a guide for planning and as a jumping-off point for synergy and further research.
Listen to the webinar Podcast
Presentation/Slides: Connecting Alaska landscapes into the future
Read the UAF School of Natural Resources & Agricultural Sciences story
November 3, 2009
CHANGES TO PERMAFROST IN ALASKA: OBSERVATIONS AND MODELING
Vladimir Romanovsky, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Observed and predicted climatic changes will inevitably change the energy and mass fluxes at the land surface and, as a result, the near-surface and subsurface physical conditions in the Alaskan Arctic and Sub-Arctic. This will trigger changes in ecosystems and infrastructure because the stability of these systems in the north relies on the stability of ice that, so far, holds these systems together. If recent warming trends in the Arctic continue, it will take several centuries to millennia for permafrost to disappear completely in the areas where it is now actively warming and thawing. In losing permafrost, we are losing the stability of these systems. Negative consequences of this degradation will be pronounced from the very beginning because the highest ice content in permafrost is usually found in the upper few tens of meters. In this presentation we will discuss possible effects of degrading permafrost in the Alaskan Arctic and Sub-Arctic on hydrology, ecosystems, infrastructure, and the carbon cycle.
Listen to the webinar Podcast
Presentation/Slides: Changes to permafrost in Alaska: observations and modeling
Read the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner's story
UAF's Geophysical Institute Permafrost Laboratory
August 11, 2009
TUTORIAL: USING WEB-BASED AND GOOGLE EARTH MAPS OF PROJECTED CLIMATE CHANGE IN ALASKA
Nancy Fresco, Network Coordinator for Scenarios Network for Alaska Planning and Katie Kennedy, Education and Outreach Coordinator for the University of Alaska Geography Program
The University of Alaska, Scenarios Network for Alaska Planning (SNAP) provides quick and easy access to a wide range of climate projections for the state of Alaska at a 2km resolution. Data and maps are available for download in web-based and Google Earth formats. These maps show projected changes in temperature, precipitation, growing season length, freeze-up date and thaw date, and include documentation of uncertainties. Learn how to view, interpret and download available data and maps and discuss upcoming SNAP products.
Participants will need to download Google Earth to access the SNAP Google Earth maps. Click here to download Google Earth.
Listen to the Podcast of the tutorial
Presentation/Slides: Using web-based and Google Earth maps of projected climate change in Alaska
Read the Stories: Media Coverage of SNAP Community Charts Tool
Site forecasts climate change in Alaska backyards
SNAP tracks climate change for Alaska towns
UAF science prediction calls for higher Fairbanks temperatures
June 24, 2009
OUTCOMES OF THE ARCTIC COUNCIL'S ARCTIC MARINE SHIPPING ASSESSMENT
Lawson Brigham, Distinguished Professor of Geography & Arctic Policy, UAF and Chair, Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment of the Arctic Council
In response to unprecedented changes occurring in the circumpolar Arctic, in 2004 the Arctic Council called for the Council’s Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME) working group to conduct a comprehensive assessment of Arctic marine shipping. The Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment (AMSA) 2009 Final Report represents the results of this four year study. Findings and recommendations were negotiated and approved by the Ministers of the Arctic States on April 29, 2009 and take into consideration Arctic marine geography, changes in sea ice and climate, history of marine transport, governance of Arctic marine shipping, current marine use in the Arctic, Arctic marine infrastructure, human and environmental considerations and impacts, and Arctic marine shipping futures scenarios to 2020. This presentation is an overview of the AMSA findings, presented by Dr. Lawson Brigham.
Listen to the webinar Podcast
Presentation/Slides: Outcomes of the Arctic Council's Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment
Read the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner's story
Read The New York Times Green Inc. Blog story
Read the Nome Nugget story
Read the UAF School of Natural Resources & Agricultural Sciences story
The 2009 final report of the Arctic Council's Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment (AMSA) is now available.
Click here to download a copy of the report (26M PDF)
Click on a chapter title to download individual chapters (PDF): Front and Back Covers; Table of Contents; Executive Summary and Recommendations; Introduction; Arctic Marine Geography, Climate, and Sea Ice; History of Marine Arctic Transport; Governance of Arctic Shipping; Current Marine Use and the AMSA Shipping Database; Scenarios, Futures, and Regional Futures to 2020; Human Dimensions; Environmental Considerations and Impacts; Arctic Marine Infrastructure.
January 21, 2009
ALASKA CLIMATE VARIABILITY IN THE MODERN ERA
Rick Thoman, National Weather Service
What is the difference between climate and weather? How does the extent and limitation of instrument records in Alaska influence climate
observations? What is the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and how does it
influence climate variability in Alaska? This webinar addressed these questions and a lively discussion followed.
Listen to the webinar Podcast
Presentation/Slides:Alaska Climate Variability in the Modern Era
Webinar Summary: Alaska Climate Variability in the Modern Era
This webinar received state-wide media coverage:
Listen to the Alaska Public Radio Network's coverage
Read the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner's story
November 5, 2008
GOOGLE EARTH MAPS OF PROJECTED CLIMATE CHANGE IN ALASKA,
Now Available from the Scenarios Network for Alaska Planning
Michael Sfraga, T. Scott Rupp, Katie Kennedy, University of Alaska
The Scenario Network for Alaska Planning (SNAP), housed within the University of Alaska Geography Program, now has Alaska climate change projections available for download in Google Earth Format. These maps show projected changes in temperature, precipitation, growing season length, freeze-up date and thaw date, and include documentation of uncertainties.
Listen to the webinar Podcast
Presentation/Slides:
Google Earth Maps of Projected Climate Change in Alaska, University of Alaska SNAP Program
Instructions for downloading the SNAP maps:
SNAP Google Earth Download Tutorial
Fairbanks Daily News Miner story:
Mapping 21st Century Climate Change in Alaska
September 18, 2007
CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS IN ALASKA: THE WEATHER PERSPECTIVE
James Partain, National Weather Service
This webinar will highlight many of the impacts from climate change on Alaska's weather. These impacts span the range of National Weather Service program areas from Aviation to Volcanic Ash and everything in between. The presentation and discussion period provides information to develop a shared understanding about links between climate change and weather and how these links drive the services, decision-support, research & development, and policy of the National Weather Service.
Listen to the webinar Podcast
Presentation/Slides: Climate Change Impacts in Alaska: The Weather Perspective
Webinar Summary: Climate Change Impacts in Alaska: The Weather Perspective Webinar Summary (pdf)
Listen to radio coverage:
Alaska Public Radio Network, Climate change affecting forecasting models.
National Public Radio, KSTK, Wrangell, Expert says Southeast climate is uncertain, constantly changing.
Related ACCAP Research Projects
ACCAP Sea Ice Project
Alaska has approximately 44,000 miles of coastline, more than that in the rest of the U.S. Alaska is also the only state in which large portions of the coastline are affected by sea ice. Sea ice is present along or close to the northern coast for 8-10 months of the year, and it affects much of the western coastline for at least several months of most years. The presence of sea ice is a major factor in the lives of many western and northern Alaskan coastal communities, for whom a stable ice cover is essential as a buffer against coastal storms, as a platform for offshore activity, and as a marine environmental feature essential for the survival of animals such as walrus, polar bears and seals. Coastal flooding and erosion, exacerbated in recent years by the retreat of sea ice, has been highlighted in the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. In addition, information on present and forecasted sea ice conditions is vital for several of Alaska’s major industries: fishing, marine transportation and offshore resource extraction. These needs point to the importance of a synthesis of information on Alaskan sea ice conditions to serve the climate services and operational forecasting sectors, and, ultimately, stakeholders affected by sea ice.
ACCAP Tundra Lakes Project
This research provides an assessment of the physical, biological and chemical implications of mid-winter pumping of tundra ponds. The oil industry and support services withdraw water from freshwater lakes and ponds to build ice roads and pads in the Arctic for increased access to remote sites. This technique allows oil field development or maintenance while avoiding the environmental disturbance associated with construction of gravel roads and pads. British Petroleum Exploration, Conoco-Phillips Alaska Inc., the Nature Conservancy, and the Northern Alaska Environmental Center have joined this investigation as committed and active partners and the projects is funded by the Department of Energy. Scientists from the State of Alaska Department of Natural Resources and Bureau of Land Management work with ACCAP to see the project through completion.
Cross-Regional Dialogue: Climate Change, Water Impacts and Indigenous People.
With global temperatures on the rise, the impact of drought on
water supplies and ecosystems can only be expected to increase in
the coming years. Being prepared by better understanding drought
planning innovations and the array of monitoring and forecasting
resources may help reduce vulnerabilities and avert disasters.
This project, supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), aims to use modern communication technologies
to open a dialogue among tribal and indigenous decisionmakers
and resource managers from Alaska, the US Southwest, and
the Pacific Islands as well as climate scientists from these regions.
Improving Seasonal Fire Predictions and Information Services in Alaska for Regional and National Fire Resource Planning
Predictive capacity for Alaska fire falls behind what is available in the lower 48 states. Increases in wildfire frequency, severity, duration, and total area burned are among the most significant expected ecological effects of climate warming. Two of the three most extensive wildfire seasons in Alaska’s 50-year record occurred in 2004 and 2005 and 60% of the largest fire years have occurred since 1990 (Kasischke et al. 2006). Designed in close collaboration with fire managers from a range of state and federal agencies participating in the Alaska WildlandFire Coordination Group, this project takes advantage of the strong weather/fire link in Alaska to produce estimates for the severity of the 2009 and 2010 fire seasons. In collaboration with CLIMAS, we are presently utilizing these results to draft a web-based decision-support tool that will help Alaska fire mangers adapt to a changing climate in their suppression and natural resource planning.
The Synergistic Effects of Climate Change and Land Use in the Upper Yukon River Watershed
There are seven rural communities in the Yukon Flats, with Fort Yukon as the primary hub and service center; all of the villages are home to a large Alaskan Gwich’in and a smaller Koyukon Athabascan population. Partly because of an important historical and cultural connection to hunting and fishing, and partly because of the fact that a large segment of the population now lives below the poverty level as defined by the federal government, rural residents throughout the Yukon Flats depend on subsistence hunting and fishing and country foods (plants and animals) for survival and community well-being. The cumulative and synergistic effects of global climate, land use, and economic changes create scenarios of real and perceived stability and instability in interior rural Alaskan communities, with local stakeholders having relatively little access to and influence over scientific findings, policy development, and decision making about the same by federal and state land managers. An integrated assessment of the consequences of the impacts of climate variability and change and stakeholder needs for weather and climate products will be strategically implemented throughout the five year project. The central partner organization for this project is the Council of Athabascan Tribal Governments (CATG), which represents the tribal chiefs of the seven regional villages on matters of natural resource management and development, as well as about matters of subsistence and health and well-being for all village resource users. The collaboration will include contributions by John Walsh on climate, Terry Chapin on fire ecology and ecosystem issues, and Larry Duffy on contaminants, perceptions of food quality, the impact of contaminants on ecosystem stability and change, and on the relationship between contaminants flows and concentrations and climate change.
State and National Resources
State Resources
Alaska Climate Research Center Conducts research focusing on Alaska and polar regions climatology and archives climatological data for Alaska.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game Climate Change Strategy November, 2010 The State of Alaska, Department of Fish and Game has released a report describing climate change effects on fisheries and wildlife resources. The report describes some of the management challenges raised by warming temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, altered stream flows, loss of sea ice, increased wildfire patterns, thawing permafrost and coastal erosion.
Alaska Sea Grant Adapting to Climate Change in Coastal Alaska Resources Adaption tools, fact sheets and videos. This Alaska Sea Grant Marine Advisory Program (MAP) project brings a marine-dependent community perspective to climate change adaptation issues.
2009 Alaska regional climate change impacts report From the US Global Change Research Programs's report: Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States. The report summarizes the science and the impacts of climate change on the United States, now and in the future. The report is written in plain language with high resolution graphics avavailable for download.
Alaska State Climate Change Strategy Includes links to the Climate Change Sub-Cabinet's Advisory Groups on Adaptation, Mitigation, Immediate Action, and Research Needs.
Arctic Climate Impact Assessment An international project of the Arctic Council and the International Arctic Science Committee to evaluate and synthesize knowledge on climate variability, climate change, and increased ultraviolet radiation and their consequences.
Climate Change in Alaska: Why Should Other States Care? ACCAP White Paper addressing national climate change concerns.
International Arctic Research Center (IARC) Provides the Arctic research community with an opportunity to share knowledge about science in the Arctic, with an emphasis on global climate change research.
Connecting Alaska Landscapes into the Future This SNAP report looks at climate change effects on Alaska's wildlife and ecosystems. It offers policymakers and the public a practical way to approach the question of climate change effects on Alaska ecosystems.
Keeping It Frozen: In Alaska, a low-tech solution helps the ground stay cold enough, for now. December 7, 2009 Wall Street Journal article. This article focuses on the use of thermosiphons as a low-technology engineering solution to maintain frozen ground for infrastructure in Alaska. It provides links to the November 2009 ACCAP-sponsored webinar by Vladimir Romanovsky "Changes to Permafrost in Alaska: Observations and Modeling."
National Weather Service Alaska Region Headquarters Current hazards, satellite, radar, surface analysis, warnings & advisories.
Scenarios Network for Alaska Planning (SNAP) Services and products include web-based maps and Google Earth maps projecting future temperature, precipitation, freeze, and thaw conditions at a 2K resolution. SNAP has developed a new Community Charts Tool that offers monthly average temperature and precipitation figures from the late-20th century through the present and offer projections for every decade through 2100 for over 350 places in Alaska. Additionally, SNAP provides GIS data, objective interpretations of projected scenarios, including ramifications for management decisions, detailed explanations of the assumptions, models, and methods, and uncertainties associated with projections.
SNAP Preliminary Report to the Governor's Sub-Cabinet on Climate Change
2010 SNAP report on climate change effects on Alaska’s wildlife and ecosystems The publication models future shifts in species and regional ecosystems by scientists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the UAF Scenarios Network for Alaska Planning and the Ecological Wildlife Habitat Data Analysis for the Land and Seascape. It offers policymakers and the public a practical way to approach the question of climate change effects on Alaska ecosystems.
NOAA in Alaska List and description of NOAA's Statewide programs.
National Resources
Arctic Climate Impact Assessment An international project of the Arctic Council and the International Arctic Science Committee to evaluate and synthesize knowledge on climate variability, climate change, and increased ultraviolet radiation and their consequences.
Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, 2009 Update on Selected Climate Issues of Concern: Observations, Short-lived Climate Forcers, Arctic Carbon Cycle, Predictive Capacity.
Arctic Report Card 2010 The Arctic Report Card presents concise information on recent observations of environmental conditions in the Arctic. Issued annually, material presented in the Report Card is prepared by an international team of scientists and is peer-reviewed by topical experts of the Climate Experts Group (AMAP) of the Arctic Council.
Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science A guide to understanding climate change from the NOAA Climate Program Office.
2009 Report: Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, from the United States Global Change Research Program
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Summary for Policy Makers
National Research Council reports on climate choices Three new (May 2010) reports examining how the nation can combat the effects of climate change. One focuses on the science that supports human-induced climate change, and the others review options for limiting the magnitude of and adapting to the impacts of climate change. The reports are part of a congressionally requested suite of studies known as America’s Climate Choices.
Reports include:
Advancing the Science of Climate Change
Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change
Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change
2009 National Science Foundation Comprehensive Report on Global Impacts of Climate Change
National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center Deliver climate prediction, monitoring, and assessment products for timescales from weeks to years to both the U.S. and international community.
NOAA Arctic Climate Vision & Strategy Provides a high-level framework and six strategic goals to address NOAA's highest priorities in the region.
NOAA Arctic Climate Research Information includes climate change related data, graphics, and forecasts, including historical perspectives and in-depth analyses. Also included are a selection of essays by Arctic experts on key issues in the Arctic.
NOAA Climate Portal NOAA's new (December 2009) one-stop-shop website for NOAA climate change-related education, data, and partner resources.
United States Climate Change Science Program: Resources and reports from 21 completed Synthesis and Assessment Products.
2010 White House Progress Report on the Work of the Climate Change Adaptation Task Force Produced by the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force, the report recommends that the Federal Government implement
actions to expand and strengthen the Nation’s capacity to better understand, prepare for, and
respond to climate change. The recommendations include making adaptation a standard part of
agency planning and ensuring scientific information about the impacts of climate change is
easily accessible.
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