Stories
The ACCAP team is participating in the 2024 American Geophysical Union fall meeting held both virtually and in Washington D.C. We hope to connect with our colleagues and friends during the following presentations and events. For those in D.C., please also stop by the University of Alaska Fairbanks booth (number 931) which is co-hosted by the ACCAP science communications team. In addition to the following talks and posters, ACCAP’s Rick Thoman is participating in a press conference for…
For the fourth consecutive year, Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy scientist Rick Thoman served as an editor of an annual federal report summarizing the world’s climate. “State of the Climate in 2023” describes global environmental conditions and highlights notable climate records. For example, Earth’s greenhouse gas concentrations, ocean heat and global sea level were the highest on record in 2023. Across the Arctic — the chapter of the report Thoman was responsible for…
Each year ACCAP’s climate specialist Rick Thoman appears in hundreds of news stories as a trusted source of climate change information in Alaska. Reporters across the state, nation and world recognize him as an excellent science communicator and expert in Alaska climate and weather. “Rick Thoman” has become a household name in many Alaska communities where the frequency of extreme events is increasing. Alaskans value his ability to shed light on locally-relevant climate and weather…
The frequency and intensity of wildfires, coastal storms, flooding, landslides, avalanches and other extreme events are increasing in Alaska. An understanding of past events helps people plan for the future, but historical records of extreme events are often incomplete and very difficult to locate. Partnering with the Alaska Fellows, ACCAP worked with recent graduate Caroline Erickson to compile a library of historical weather and climate events that significantly impacted Alaskans. Erickson combed newspapers, disaster declarations,…
The Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy has released a set of resources to help researchers and academics working in rural Alaska understand the complexities of Tribal communities. The new materials come amid increased focus on Arctic climate research and Indigenous priorities, a trend that Tribal communities welcome but can find taxing. Adelheid Herrmann, a co-investigator at ACCAP, developed the resources as part of her work building capacity in rural communities to respond and…