Alaska
EU eyes Arctic internet cable to connect Europe to Asia via Alaska
The European Fee is contemplating financing a fibre optic cable to attach Europe to Asia by way of the Arctic and keep away from current choke factors, two EU officers acquainted with the matter instructed EURACTIV underneath the situation of anonymity.
The consortium behind the Far North Fiber venture is shaped by Alaskan firm Far North Digital and Finland’s Cinia. The cable could be 14,000 km lengthy and join Scandinavia and Eire to Japan, passing by way of the Arctic, with landings in Greenland, Canada and Alaska.
Cinia initially conceived the venture in 2018, passing by the Northeast Passage polar route in collaboration with the Russian telecom operator MegaFon. The deal fell aside final 12 months because of the mounting geopolitical tensions with Moscow. In flip, Russia is making ready to launch its personal Arctic cable, Polar Specific, in 2026.
The infrastructure plan was consequently reconfigured in December 2021 to traverse the Northwest Passage, and it has been looking out for buyers to finance a complete value estimated at $1.15 billion.
Passing by means of the Arctic would additionally imply the cable could be shorter than the prevailing ones, decreasing the so-called information latency, the time the knowledge takes to journey from one level to the opposite.
“It’d be a really costly cable, and the business viability of it’s unsure. Decrease latency in itself doesn’t decide if a cable will get constructed,” stated Alan Mauldin, analysis director at TeleGeography, a telecommunications market analysis firm.
On this regard, ongoing geopolitical tensions may play into the venture’s hand as European policymakers began taking a look at it as a strategic asset.
The cable could be the primary to attach Europe to Asia with out passing by way of the Suez Channel in Egypt, a essential choke level relating to web infrastructure and worldwide commerce. Following the latest sabotage of the North Stream pipelines, suspected to be of Russian origin, Brussels is rising cautious of those single factors of failure.
The Italian firm Sparkle is already constructing a cable that may circumvent Suez by way of Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, however that may not deal with the dependency on the geopolitical context of a single area.
The European Fee first offered the concept of co-financing the Far North Fiber to representatives of EU international locations final week.
The EU desires to current it as one of many primary achievements of transatlantic cooperation on the subsequent ministerial assembly of the EU-US Commerce and Know-how Council in December.
Nonetheless, EURACTIV understands that the help of Washington just isn’t confirmed as a result of the US just isn’t but satisfied that this route could be a strategic precedence for them.
Militarisation of the Arctic
The venture would slot in a broader context of the militarisation of the Arctic, a area that’s more and more creating geopolitical tensions because the melting of glaciers is opening up strategic commerce routes and uncooked supplies reserves.
The EU final 12 months adopted its first Arctic technique, which additionally made a reference to investing in connectivity and significant infrastructure, reflecting the rising anxiousness over geopolitical tensions within the Arctic at a time when China, Russia and the US are already preventing for affect within the area.
“Important infrastructure is the brand new frontier of warfare, and the EU can be ready,” Fee President Ursula von der Leyen instructed the Digital Summit in Tallinn on Monday (10 October).
In reality, the disruption of marine networks dates again to the First World Conflict, when one of many first acts of the Brits was to destroy Germany’s undersea telegraph cables, reducing them off from world communications and establishing the primary surveillance system on a worldwide scale.
“We clearly see we’re extra susceptible now,” the second EU official instructed EURACTIV, noting that the problem was uncared for for a long-time, however now many EU international locations, particularly within the north of Europe, are pushing to diversify their underwater cables.
France, Europe’s army heavyweight, is ramping up its deep-sea capability as a part of a army programme to counter hybrid threats on underwater telecommunications infrastructure.
The Arctic optic cable may also have a army dimension, as army infrastructure could be the primary to be focused in case of an escalation.
Within the final plenary debate within the European Parliament, von der Leyen set out a five-point plan for enhancing the safety of the essential submarine infrastructure. A basic element is the usage of satellite tv for pc methods to observe naval visitors.
A serious station of the European House Company that connects with its Galileo satellite tv for pc system relies in Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago within the Arctic Ocean. In January, the undersea cables connecting Norway’s Svalbard Satellite tv for pc Station to the mainland have been severed.
A number of months earlier, a community of undersea sensors of the Norwegian Ocean Observatory was additionally reduce, prompting suspicions of sabotage. Russia was the first suspect additionally on this case, because it is among the few international locations with such capabilities.
Because the European satellite tv for pc system is ready to play a essential position in monitoring essential marine infrastructure, reducing that off would severely cripple the EU’s response capability.
The European House Company didn’t reply to EURACTIV’s inquiry on how sabotage of seabed communications would have an effect on the functioning of the Galileo satellite tv for pc system. The European Fee and Far North Digital additionally didn’t present a remark by the point of publication.
[Edited by Alexandra Brzozowski/Zoran Radosavljevic]
Alaska
Short-lived cold snap, with another warming trend this weekend
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Temperatures across the state are cooling off, as our strong low from the weekend moves into the Chukchi Sea. This will set up for colder air to spread across the state this week, as another short-lived cold snap is expected. While some light snow is possible for the Interior, areas of the Slope and Western Alaska, Southcentral will stay on the drier side until the night. Meanwhile, Southeast will continue to hold onto moderate rain with gusty conditions.
SOUTHCENTRAL:
Temperatures this morning are 10 to 20 degrees colder than yesterday, as colder air has settled back into Southcentral. Clear skies and calm winds are evident this morning for parts of the region, with light snow falling through the Copper River Basin. We’ll see fairly quiet conditions today, outside of Kodiak which will see increasing snow and rain into the afternoon and evening hours. This comes as our next area of low pressure moves up the Alaska Peninsula.
We’ll see light snow spreading north across the Kenai overnight into Wednesday, with light snow expected through Prince William Sound. Several inches are likely through the Kenai and Chugach Mountains, with the pass expected to see a couple of inches of accumulation. Western parts of the Kenai will see the potential for a few inches, while inland areas of Southcentral largely stay dry. If Anchorage and surrounding locations see any accumulation, it’ll amount to less than half an inch.
As snow tapers off Wednesday, we’ll see the return to colder and drier conditions into Thursday. Thursday may be the coldest day this week across the region, before another warming trend carries us into next week. Right now holding with snow through early next week, but areas of wintry mix are possible as highs warm above freezing.
SOUTHEAST:
The winter storm warning for Skagway and higher elevations expired at 6am this morning. While some light snow showers are still possible, little accumulation will occur the rest of the day. Scattered to periodic showers are occurring elsewhere across Southeast today, with less than half an inch of rainfall through the day. Any moisture available into the evening will see a transition to some wintry mix or snow into Wednesday morning. However, the better chance will come from another low lifting north into the panhandle. Any snow and wintry mix we see for Wednesday will primarily stay confined to the central and southern panhandle. We’ll see much cooler weather taking hold this week for Southeast.
INTERIOR:
Some areas of light snow are possible this morning, with less than half an inch to be expected. While temperatures are still warm for much of the Interior, highs will steadily fall throughout the day. Many areas will see lows bottom out near or below zero by tomorrow morning. We’ll see high pressure keep things dry and sunny through the next couple of days, with the coldest stretch of weather from Wednesday morning into Thursday morning. Much like the rest of the state will experience, a warming trend arrives this weekend. We’ll see the return to highs in the 20s, with some snow in the forecast. Be prepared for some gusty conditions through the Alaska Range by the close of this week.
SLOPE/WESTERN ALASKA:
Areas of light snow and blowing winds will continue to impact the Slope, with a winter weather advisory remaining in place for the Central Brooks Range and the Beaufort Sea Coast. Both locations will see up to 1 inch of snow and gusty winds up to 35 mph. While the winter weather advisory will expire for the Central Brooks Range this afternoon, the Beaufort Sea Coast will see the alert continue into Tuesday evening. Snow and blowing snow will be the primary impact today, with a return to colder weather through the rest of this week, this comes as high pressure settles into the area.
The storm responsible for the damaging winds for Southcentral over the weekend, has pushed north into the Chukchi Sea. We’ll still see some light snow accumulations for Western Alaska, with 1 to 3 inches expected. Some fo the heaviest snow will fall across the Seward Peninsula and the Western Brooks Range.
An area of low pressure in the Bering Sea will keep gusty winds and snow in the forecast for Gambell/St. Lawrence. Be prepared for heavy snow at times and areas of reduced visibility. Overall, colder weather will settle into Western Alaska, with the possibility of morning fog in the valleys over the next few mornings.
ALEUTIANS:
Some light areas of snow will occur for the Pribilof Islands and into parts of the Alaska Peninsula today, as a weak low moves up the Peninsula. This will be the main focus for snow into Wednesday for Southcentral. This low will bring heavy precipitation and gusty winds for the Eastern Aleutians and the Alaska Peninsula. Looking ahead through the rest of the week, we can expect to see more a ridge beginning to build into the region. This ridge will slowly shift east, keeping several upper level disturbances traversing the Aleutians. Temperatures will remain fairly warm in the 30s and 40s.
OUTLOOK AHEAD:
Model consensus continues to agree on another warming trend heading our way into next week. This stretch of warmth will likely lead to many spots cementing themselves within the top warmest January’s on record. While we’ll spend the rest of this week on the colder side, highs steadily climb this weekend into next week. We’ll see highs in Southcentral climbing back above freezing, with areas of the Interior climbing back into the 20s.
Have a safe and wonderful Tuesday!
See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com
Copyright 2025 KTUU. All rights reserved.
Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska hit by hurricane-force winds, structures damaged across city
Associated Press
Hurricane-force winds cause widespread damage in Alaska’s largest city
Thousands of residents across Alaska’s largest city were still without power Monday, a day after a powerful storm brought hurricane-force winds that downed power lines, damaged trees, forced more than a dozen planes to divert, and caused a pedestrian bridge over a highway to partially collapse. A 132-mph (212-kph) wind gust was recorded at a mountain weather station south of Anchorage. A large low-pressure system in the Bering Sea brought the high winds, moisture and warmer than average temperatures — in the low 40s Fahrenheit (slightly over 4.4 degrees Celsius) — to Anchorage on Sunday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Tracen Knopp.
Alaska
Thousands without power in Alaska after hurricane-force winds hit
Thousands of residents in Anchorage, Alaska, faced widespread devastation and power outages Monday after hurricane-strength winds battered the city on Sunday.
Why It Matters
This latest incident comes as power outages across the United States have become a growing concern as extreme weather events increase in frequency and intensity, often leaving millions of Americans in precarious situations. Hurricanes, wildfires, ice storms and heatwaves have caused widespread disruptions, highlighting the vulnerability of aging electrical grids to severe conditions.
Prolonged outages not only hinder daily life by cutting off access to heating, cooling and essential appliances but also pose significant risks to public health, particularly for the elderly and those with medical conditions reliant on powered devices.
What To Know
The Anchorage storm, which began Sunday, delivered gusts reaching 132 mph at a mountain weather station south of the city, according to the National Weather Service. Within Anchorage itself, winds hit 75 mph, toppling trees, scattering debris and partially collapsing a pedestrian bridge over the Seward Highway, the city’s main southern thoroughfare.
At the height of the storm, 17,500 customers were without power, according to Julie Hasquet, spokesperson for Chugach Electric Association. As of Monday, roughly 5,700 homes remained offline with full restoration expected to stretch into Tuesday.
The storm’s chaos wasn’t limited to neighborhoods. Anchorage’s airport, a vital hub for passenger and cargo traffic, saw significant disruptions. Winds forced 13 aircraft, including a U.S. Air Force plane, to divert to Fairbanks, which sits nearly 360 miles away.
On the ground, emergency crews scrambled to clear bridge debris, which had obstructed traffic on the highway. However, no injuries were reported when the side fencing and roof of the bridge fell onto the four-lane divided highway on Sunday. Traffic was rerouted and crews removed the debris.
Alaska Department of Transportation spokesperson Shannon McCarthy pointed to the winds as the probable cause of the bridge failure. However, structural engineers are investigating to determine the full extent of the damage.
Meanwhile, the storm marked a rare convergence of high winds, warmer-than-average temperatures and moisture from a low-pressure system in the Bering Sea, said National Weather Service meteorologist Tracen Knopp. Anchorage saw temperatures in the low 40s Fahrenheit, unusual for mid-winter.
What People Are Saying
Alaska Department of Transportation spokesperson Shannon McCarthy said: “The winds were the leading cause, but our bridge engineers will be out there today and may be able give us a more comprehensive analysis of what happened.”
Julie Hasquet, a spokesperson for Chugach Electric Association, said some customers may not have power back on until Tuesday. She said: “When our crews show up for repairs, they don’t know what they’re going to find.”
Resident Steven Wood told Anchorage television station KTUU about how he and his family was watching the winds blow things around the yard Sunday morning when they saw their neighbor’s roof partially blow off and head right toward them.
“All of a sudden, I see the roof start to peel off, and all I can yell is, ‘Incoming! Everybody run!’” Wood said.
What Happens Next
Cleanup efforts are underway in Anchorage as the city begins recovering from the powerful storm.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
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