The summer of 2019 has been unusually hot marked by at least three heatwaves and Alaska, the northernmost point of the U.S. is no exception. Early in July, the US state of Alaska, part of which lies inside the Arctic Circle, registered record high temperatures. The Independence day holiday was marked by a record breaking heatwave in Alaska.
In fact the heat in Alaska has set a number of records in 2019. "The magnitude and persistence of the warmth is particularly striking to me this winter in parts of Alaska," said Zack Labe, a climate scientist and Ph.D. candidate at the University of California at Irvine.
The warm weather has thinned ice and this has claimed lives. People have fallen through the thinner ice and others are prevented from using ice which is traditionally an important means of transport in the colder months. To illustrate in late March when Bering Sea ice is usually at its maximum, it had largely disappeared. As of April the ice coverage was even lower than the unprecedented low in 2018 and by mid may it was almost entirely gone when it usually persists until June.
The disappearing sea ice and melting permafrost are making life impossible in some villages including Kivalina, Newtok and Shishmaref. Climate change is wreaking havoc on subsistence hunting and fishing both in terms of using ice as a transportation medium and the changing location of fish and game.
In addition to these local impacts, declining sea ice may also have implications for global weather patterns. It is clear that open water creates warmer air temperatures and this leads to more evaporation which fuels storms.
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