Arctic Report Card celebrates 20 years
The 20th edition of the Arctic Report Card, published this week, continues to serve as a record of persistent and extraordinary warming in the North. As has been the case since its inception in 2006, University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers contributed essays documenting the changing Arctic. “The annual update, year after year, allows the Arctic…
ACCAP, a part of IARC’s family friendly workplace
An 8-month-old was the youngest attendee at the International Arctic Research Center (ACCAP’s host organization) annual retreat this year. While colleagues lined up to strategize IARC’s future, they took turns snuggling a squishy baby. This blending of work and personal life is not particularly unusual at IARC, which in August 2025 was one of eight…
Typhoon leaves flooded Alaska villages facing a storm recovery far tougher than most Americans will ever experience
This story originally appeared in The Conversation. Remnants of a powerful typhoon swept into Western Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta on Oct. 12, 2025, producing a storm surge that flooded villages as far as 60 miles up the river. The water pushed homes off their foundations and set some afloat with people inside, officials said. More than 50 people had to…
State of the climate continues to track global change
The American Meteorological Society released its annual State of the Climate report this week, providing a comprehensive overview of global conditions in 2024. Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Preparedness scientists and collaborators contributed data and analysis for the Arctic and Alaska regions, as they have for years. Rick Thoman was the lead editor of the Arctic…
Whale poop links toxic algal blooms to ocean warming
Analysis of bowhead whale poop shows that more toxins from typically warm-water toxic algae species are entering Arctic food webs as northern oceans warm and lose sea ice. The findings are based on nearly 20 years of feces samples collected from bowhead whales harvested for subsistence purposes by Alaska Native people living on the Beaufort…
ACCAP’s name change emphasizes focus on preparedness
The Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy is now the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Preparedness. The single word shift from policy to preparedness better represents the work ACCAP has been doing in Alaska for nearly two decades. New name, same meaningful role working to build healthy and thriving Alaska communities, economies, and…
New podcast explores Rick Thoman’s life and career
ACCAP launched a new podcast this week exploring the life and career of Rick Thoman, from tracking the weather on his bedroom wall as a child to becoming Alaska’s trusted source of climate information. “I’ve been interested in weather and climate from my earliest memories,” said Thoman, ACCAP’s climate specialist. “As a child, probably late…
‘Alaska’s Changing Wildfire Environment’ report updated
ACCAP’s partners at the Alaska Fire Science Consortium released an updated report highlighting recent wildfire trends in Alaska, their impacts to humans and wildlife, and how science can improve wildfire management decisions. “Alaska’s Changing Wildfire Environment 2.0” provides people with timely, reliable and understandable information in a visually appealing and concise format. It updates key…
Arctic Report Card spotlights caribou, seals and carbon
The Alaska we experience today and our children will experience in the future is not the Alaska of the past. According to the 2024 Arctic Report Card, released this week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and co-authored by ten University of Alaska Fairbanks scientists, warming is affecting caribou populations, heat-trapping gas releases and many…
‘Alaska’s Changing Environment’ — a new report
The Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy released a new report this week highlighting environmental changes and extremes that impact Alaskans and their livelihoods. “Alaska’s Changing Environment” provides people with timely, reliable and understandable information on topics ranging from temperature and precipitation changes to salmon and polar bears. The report was led by ACCAP and the…