The development shows how failure to ratify the Convention on the Law of the Sea puts the U.S. at a disadvantage, says Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
Arctic
Microplastics found in body tissues of walruses harvested by Alaska hunters
Discovery of tiny bits of plastic in the muscles, blubber and livers of Pacific walruses adds to evidence of pollution’s spread through the world’s oceans.
Alaska’s Arctic and boreal ecosystems see climate change-driven ‘microbial awakening’
Underground fungi and bacteria are becoming more active as permafrost thaws in northern regions.
Alaska is short on gravel and long on development projects
The state’s North Slope communities need rocks, and they’re hard to come by.
Avian influenza death of Alaska polar bear is a global first and a sign of the virus’ persistence
The highly pathogenic influenza that has already killed vast numbers of birds and numerous mammals continues to circulate in the world’s wild populations.
U.S. preparing to claim new ocean territory off Arctic Alaska and in central Bering Sea
The claims to extended continental shelf territory, to be asserted by the U.S. State Department, include an area within the Arctic Ocean that is bigger than California.
Appeals court allows ConocoPhillips to keep building its Willow project on Alaska’s North Slope
Construction is underway at the massive oil project even as the legal fight continues.
America is larger now, by declaration of State Department
More than half of the claim is in the Arctic.
New study hints at huge price tag from permafrost thaw in Alaska
In severe warming scenarios, the study found that more than 75% of Earth’s near-surface permafrost will be gone by the end of the century.
Humpback whales increasingly sighted in Arctic Alaska waters better known as bowhead territory
A study, which points to climate change as a possible factor pushing humpbacks north, shows results that are both ‘fascinating’ and ‘a little terrifying,’ one author says.