Skip to main content

GlobalChange.gov

Utility

  • About USGCRP
  • Agencies

Global search

  • Understand Climate Change
  • Assess National Climate Assessment
  • Explore USGCRP Highlights
  • Browse Reports & Resources
  • Engage Connect & Participate

You are here

  • Explore
  • Alaska

Share

Facebook logo Twitter logo Google+ logo LinkedIn logo Reddit logo

Alaska

alaska-moutains-long.jpg

Train tracks in the Alaskan countryside

Key Messages About Alaska from the National Climate Assessment

Arctic summer sea ice is receding faster than previously projected and is expected to virtually disappear before mid-century. This is altering marine ecosystems and leading to greater ship access, offshore development opportunity, and increased community vulnerability to coastal erosion.

Most glaciers in Alaska and British Columbia are shrinking substantially. This trend is expected to continue and has implications for hydropower production, ocean circulation patterns, fisheries, and global sea level rise.

anchorage-ak.jpg

Anchorage, AK
Permafrost temperatures in Alaska are rising, a thawing trend that is expected to continue, causing multiple vulnerabilities through drier landscapes, more wildfire, altered wildlife habitat, increased cost of maintaining infrastructure, and the release of heat-trapping gases that increase climate warming.

Current and projected increases in Alaska’s ocean temperatures and changes in ocean chemistry are expected to alter the distribution and productivity of Alaska’s marine fisheries, which lead the U.S. in commercial value.

The cumulative effects of climate change in Alaska strongly affect Native communities, which are highly vulnerable to these rapid changes but have a deep cultural history of adapting to change.
____
To learn more about how climate change affects Alaska, explore the resources in the sidebar.

 

Key Related Links

  • Alaska in the National Climate Assessment: web | download | 2-page summary
  • Alaska Climate Change Scenarios | 2-page summary
  • Sea Level Rise Scenarios
  • NCA Education Resources: Alaska

CRT_Button3_IconOnly_Bitmap_White.png

Climate Resilience Toolkit

Find experts in your region

Recent Related News

From Thawing Permafrost, Slow but Steady Emissions Likely

Posted
Apr 12, 2015

New Reports Explore How A Shifting Climate May Impact Eight U.S. Regions

Posted
Jul 30, 2013

Carbon Dioxide Levels Reach Milestone at Arctic Sites

Posted
Jun 1, 2012
See all related news

Recent Related Reports

Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic(AACA ): Perspectives from the Bering/Chukchi/Beaufort Region

See all related reports

Recent Related Highlights

Studying carbon cycle processes in northern aquatic ecosystems

Posted
Feb 11, 2022

Assessing Alaska’s carbon resources

Posted
Sep 6, 2019

Improving Predictions of Changing Arctic Ecosystems

Posted
Dec 1, 2016
See all related highlights

2014 National Climate Assessment

  • NCA on the web
  • Download the NCA
GlobalChange.gov is made possible
by our participating agencies
  • USDA
  • DOC
  • DOD
  • DOE
  • HHS
  • DHS
  • DOI
  • DOS
  • DOT
  • EPA
  • NASA
  • NSF
  • SI
  • USAID

Get Our Newsletter

Get Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • RSS
  • Contact Us
U.S. Global Change Research Program
1800 G Street, NW, Suite 9100
Washington, D.C. 20006 USA

Tel: +1 202 223 6262
Fax: +1 202 223 3065
Privacy Policy