Caribou, migrating birds and many other types of wildlife rely on this expanse of wetlands and tundra. But about 5.5 million acres are being put up for oil and gas leases in March 2026.
Articles on Alaska
Displaying 21 - 40 of 79 articles
Alaska produces a lot of crude oil, but many of the state’s utilities, businesses and homes run on natural gas, which is in dwindling supply near population centers.
The White House intends to appeal to Greenlanders by highlighting their shared heritage with Alaska’s indigenous population.
When volcanoes like Alaska’s Mount Spurr erupt, the ash can damage people’s lungs, smother crops and kill animals, and the harm can continue to spread long afterward.
Donald Trump says he is a big fan of oil and gas. His actions may not be of great interest to the industry. And the results may not be what he says he wants.
The US experiences violent earthquakes, but the damage and death toll is much lower than in many countries because of the work of federal seismologists and engineers.
An Alaskan former politician and Native rights activist explains how Alaska came to be American – and what that meant for the state’s Native population.
Rapid changes underway in the Arctic affect the region’s people and wildlife, and the entire planet.
Recent tensions between the US and China can be explained by the geopolitics of sea power and the geography of near and far waters.
The Juneau Icefield may now keep melting even if global warming stopped.
Collaborative research by archaeologists, environmental scientists and tribal elders combines science and Indigenous knowledge to tell the story of centuries of life at a glacier’s edge.
The early heat melted snow and warmed rivers, heating up the land and downstream ocean areas. The effects harmed salmon fisheries, melted sea ice and fueled widespread fires.
How will Earth’s vast boreal forests look in a warmer world? Combining satellite-based research with fieldwork shows that the planet’s largest wilderness may be changing in unexpected ways.
Alaska has at least 120 glacier-dammed lakes, and almost all have drained at least once since 1985, a new study shows. Small ones have been producing larger floods in recent years.
In the years since the Supreme Court rejected Kivalina’s appeal on May 20, 2013, the community’s search and rescue team has faced increasing climate disasters: ‘We just can’t adapt this fast.’
Biden vowed ‘no more drilling on federal lands,’ but Russia’s war on Ukraine and pressures at home are hard to ignore.
Most of the flooded communities are Indigenous and rely on subsistence hunting that residents would normally be doing right now. Recovering from the damage will make that harder.
Fires today are hotter and more destructive, thanks in part to a warming climate.
Ground is collapsing and massive lakes are draining in a matter of days. Thawing permafrost is having profound effects on the region and its infrastructure.
Homegrown tomatoes and corn in Alaska? Climate change could make it possible in the 2030s and ‘40s – a rare silver lining for this fast-warming state.
Top contributors
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Lecturer in International Studies, University of Washington
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Alaska Climate Specialist, University of Alaska Fairbanks
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Visiting Distinguished Professor, University of Alaska Anchorage
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Research assistant professor, University of Alaska Fairbanks
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Senior Scientist, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado Boulder
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Research Professor of Geography and Director, National Snow and Ice Data Center, University of Colorado Boulder
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Deputy Lead Scientist, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado Boulder
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Professor of Quaternary Science, Royal Holloway, University of London
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Postdoctoral Fellow in Statistics and Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University
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Professor of History, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
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Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Queen's University Belfast
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Professor of Mathematics, William Jewel College
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Professor of Mathematics, Director of Institute for Mathematics and Democracy, Wellesley College
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Senior Research Associate, The University of Melbourne
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Kevin Orrman-Rossiter is a Friend of The Conversation.
Sterrenkenner, History & Philosophy of Science, The University of Melbourne