Wednesday 11 December 2019

Alaska in the news again for all the wrong reasons! Monday, December the 9th was the warmest December day ever recorded: Unprecedented warmth is killing Alaska's fragile ecosystem.

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  • Extremely low cod numbers have lead feds to close the Gulf of Alaska fishery for the first time ever.
  • Salmon all but have gone. Die-offs of massive amounts of unspawned chum, sockeye, and pink salmon. 
  • Monday, December the 9th was the warmest December day ever recorded in Alaska.
  •  Alaska's low on December the 9th was warmer than the average high for the time of the year. 
  • Anchorage recorded a high of 51 deg F, on Monday, (10.5 deg C), which is more than double the December average. 
  • In 2019, Alaska has broken heat records in the Spring, the Summer, Autumn and now Winter.
  • Parts of Alaska recorded their warmest February and March on record with temperatures +40 deg F above normal killing off the Crab fishing season.
  • In July, Alaska hit 89 degrees F, (32 deg C), to break the all-time highest temperature ever recorded: Campbell Creek hit 91 degrees F, (33 deg C)
  • July 2019 now stands as Alaska’s hottest month on record.
Record warmth has been recorded more or less all year long in Alaska this year and the trend shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. Monday, December the 9th was the warmest December day ever recorded in the State. Incredibly, Alaska's low on December the 9th was warmer than the average high for the time of the year. The average high in December is 25 deg F, which is -4 deg C, Anchorage recorded a high of 51 deg F, on Monday, (10.5 deg C), which is more than double the December average. Alaska has seen a lot of record-breaking warmth in 2019, there were broken records in the Spring, the Summer, Autumn and now Winter, according to Meteorologist Danielle Banks. This record warmth may be good news for the average Alaskan but it's killing Alaska's fragile ecosystem.

Parts of Alaska recorded their warmest February and March on record with temperatures +40 deg F above normal killing off the Crab fishing season. The record warmth affects the seal population who give birth on solid ice but the ice has melted. Amy Holman, the regional coordinator for Alaska at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "said the warmth has, in addition, had a deep impact on transportation as two-thirds of communities in Alaska are not accessible via roads." Full story

In July, Alaska hit 89 degrees F, (32 deg C), to break the all-time highest temperature ever recorded: Campbell Creek hit 91 degrees F, (33 deg C) and the records kept tumbling! Full story Anchorage experienced six days in a row of 80-plus deg F (27-plus deg C) weather - the longest stretch on record for the city. Full story

July 2019 now stands as Alaska’s hottest month on record, which was the latest benchmark in a long-term warming trend with ominous repercussions ranging from rapidly vanishing summer sea ice and melting glaciers to raging wildfires and deadly chaos for marine life. Full story  Hundreds of fires broke out in the Arctic, wildfires exploded with areas of northern Siberia, northern Scandinavia, Alaska and Greenland engulfed in flames. Alaska alone burning 1.6 billion acres, due to the heat in July. Full story

As summer 2019 continued Alaska baked, more birds seals and other marine life continue to die in unprecedented numbers with experts claiming the "Pacific Blob" had returned. Full story
 
Extremely low cod numbers have lead feds to close the Gulf of Alaska fishery for the first time ever. In an unprecedented response to historically low numbers of Pacific cod, the federal cod fishery in the Gulf of Alaska is closing for the 2020 season. It’s a decision that came as little surprise, but it’s the first time the fishery was closed due to concerns of low stock. “We’re on the knife’s edge of this over-fished status,” North Pacific Fisheries Management Council member Nicole Kimball said during talks in Anchorage Friday afternoon. It’s not over-fishing to blame for the die-off, but rather, climate change. Warming ocean temperatures linked to climate change are wreaking havoc on a number of Alaska’s fisheries, worrying biologists, locals and fishermen with low returns that jeopardize fishing livelihoods. Full Story

Unusually warm temperatures across Alaska this summer led to die-offs of massive amounts of unspawned chum, sockeye, and pink salmon. Warm waters also sometimes this summer acted as a "thermal block" - essentially a wall of heat salmon don't swim past, delaying upriver migration. Full story

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