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It’s the end of an era for seed catalogs

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It’s the end of an era for seed catalogs


That is the time of yr when gardeners across the nation usually order their 2023 seed catalogs. Not less than that’s what many are planning on doing. Nonetheless, in line with the notion that we have to reside in a brand new type of gardening world or danger having no world during which to backyard, I say now it’s time to make a 2023 seed catalog, not get them organized from others. In reality, this effort ought to develop into an annual a part of each gardener’s winter routine.

Wait! Wait! Didn’t I used to yearly rant (and rave) concerning the want for the gardener to twist up by the fireplace and peruse the most recent from Burpee’s or Parks, Territorial and Johnny’s? Didn’t I push ordering seeds, finding out cultural data and drooling over photos, to not point out the fun of getting a catalog out of the mail field? I do know. I do know.

Let’s face it, nevertheless. In in the present day’s world, mail-order seed catalogs are a waste of paper, the catalog home’s time and are restricted in use when in comparison with what you are able to do when viewing on a pc or pad. The images are extra drool-worthy, the cultural data is usually supplemented with hyperlinks to get extra of it, and there isn’t the pointless waste of bodily assets, together with envelopes and stamps.

Apart from, nobody needs to supply a paper seed catalog once they can skip the price and energy and get simply as a lot element into your palms by way of the net. All of us have entry to the web (or somebody who will help us). That is the place the brand new routine begins.

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The concept is to method viewing on-line materials from two completely different instructions. The primary is the normal technique (with a twist). You merely enter the names of your favourite catalogs into your search engine (that’s the twist) and name up them up. My requirements for Alaska are “Johnny’s Seed,” “Territorial Seeds,” “Renee’s Nursery” and “Baker Creek” (the one paper seed catalog I’ll enable this yr, although even right here I urge you to make use of the net model which is precisely pretty much as good). It’s so simple; I don’t even have to checklist their internet addresses or their actual names and also you don’t have to tug them from a listing on this column and kind them in!

The opposite method is to look by particular sort of seed or plant. Sort “delphiniums” or “pod peas” or no matter your curiosity into your search engine and voila (French? I’m making an attempt so as to add some tradition right here this yr) a complete checklist of catalogs to peruse, photographs to click on on and extra cultural rising data than I may ever hope to put in writing up in a column. You may even discover YouTube movies associated to your inquiry which is once more, far more than you might ever hope for with paper catalogs.

The opposite half of this new catalog equation is to gather data by making your individual backyard column notes. Create a brand new doc in no matter program you utilize or begin a PDF (higher if you’re with me on this). Then copy belongings you need to hold from particular person internet pages and paste them into it in your individual doc. Copy the net web page for the supply so you may simply open your catalog doc and go proper to the web page once more. That is a lot simpler than dog-earring a paper catalog or maintaining a paper checklist.

Oh yeah! I overlook to say which you can additionally order seeds and vegetation on-line, too. In fact, you knew that, however I word this as a result of most of us actually don’t have to undergo that train anymore both. For one factor, most are greater than keen to subsist on no matter we will get off of native seed racks. Nowadays, should you go searching, you can find packets of Territorial, Renee’s, Ed Hume and Denali seeds on racks proper right here in Alaska. Better of all, by buying regionally as an alternative of from “international lands,” you can be doing one other factor that’s good for Alaska and this world.

[Resolve to start gardening with an emphasis on sustainability]

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I understand that by insisting readers begin utilizing the web as an alternative of the U.S. Publish Workplace for seed catalogs, I’m forgoing three or 4 simple January column topics. Nonetheless, as famous final week, all gardeners want to alter how we backyard, not simply those that are nonetheless utilizing chemical substances. The brand new phrases are “Is it sustainable?” Paper catalogs are usually not.

Some would say it’s a new world during which to backyard as of late. I say it’s our solely world and we higher begin treating it like it’s. Seed catalogs? Let this be the top of an period.

Jeff’s Alaska Backyard Calendar:

Christmas Tree Recycling: By means of Jan. 11, “reside” Christmas bushes ought to be dropped behind the limitations marking designated areas at these Carrs/Safeway areas — Anchorage (all areas), Eagle River and Palmer. Please, no wreaths, decorations, plastic strings of lights, and so on.

Recycle vacation string lights and bulbs: By means of Jan. 15 on the Anchorage Recycling Middle: 6161 Rosewood St. or Whole Reclaim: 12050 Business Manner, #10

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Alaska Botanical Backyard: Did you Be part of? Take a look at www.alaskabg.org to see what’s being provided to the general public, with reductions and first in line for members solely! Be part of in the present day. There’s a yr stuffed with actions ready for you and yours.





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Alaska

Federal disaster declaration approved for Northwest Alaska flooding

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Federal disaster declaration approved for Northwest Alaska flooding


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – President Joe Biden announced the approval of federal disaster assistance on Thursday for recovery efforts in areas that sustained damage from flooding and storms in October 2024.

Those areas include the Bering Strait Regional Educational Attendance Area (REAA) and the Northwest Arctic Borough area where many structures were damaged by a severe storm from Oct. 20-23, 2024.

Jerry Jones and his two children were rescued Wednesday after being stranded overnight on the roof of their flooded cabin about 15 miles north of Kotzebue during a large storm impacting Western Alaska.(Courtesy of Jerry Jones)
Kotzebue Flooding
Kotzebue Flooding(Michelle Kubalack)

In a press release, FEMA announced that federal funding is available on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work to the state of Alaska, tribal and eligible local governments, and certain private nonprofit organizations.

The announcement comes just a few days after Biden released the major disaster declaration approval for the August Kwigillingok flooding.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com

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Arctic hotspots study reveals areas of climate stress in Northern Alaska and Siberia

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Arctic hotspots study reveals areas of climate stress in Northern Alaska and Siberia


Map of areas that experienced ecosystem climate stress in the Arctic-boreal region between 1997-2020 as detected by multiple variables including satellite data and long-term temperature records. Watts et al., 2025, Geophysical Research Letters. Credit: Christina Shintani / Woodwell Climate Research Center

Ecological warning lights have blinked on across the Arctic over the last 40 years, according to new research, and many of the fastest-changing areas are clustered in Siberia, the Canadian Northwest Territories, and Alaska.

An analysis of the rapidly warming Arctic-boreal region, published in Geophysical Research Letters, provides a zoomed-in picture of ecosystems experiencing some of the fastest and most extreme climate changes on Earth.

Many of the most climate-stressed areas feature permafrost, or ground that stays frozen year-round, and has experienced both severe warming and drying in recent decades.

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To identify these “hotspots,” a team of researchers from Woodwell Climate Research Center, the University of Oslo, the University of Montana, the Environmental Systems Research Institute (Esri), and the University of Lleida used more than 30 years of geospatial data and long-term temperature records to assess indicators of ecosystem vulnerability in three categories: temperature, moisture, and vegetation.

Building on assessments like the NOAA Arctic Report Card, the research team went beyond evaluating isolated metrics of change and looked at multiple variables at once to create a more complete, integrated picture of climate and ecosystem changes in the region.

“Climate warming has put a great deal of stress on ecosystems in the high latitudes, but the stress looks very different from place to place and we wanted to quantify those differences,” said Dr. Jennifer Watts, Arctic program director at Woodwell Climate and lead author of the study.

“Detecting hotspots at the local and regional level helps us not only to build a more precise picture of how Arctic warming is affecting ecosystems, but to identify places where we really need to focus future monitoring efforts and management resources.”

The team used spatial statistics to detect “neighborhoods,” or regions of particularly high levels of change during the past decade.

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“This study is exactly why we have developed these kinds of spatial statistic tools in our technology. We are so proud to be working closely with Woodwell Climate on identifying and publishing these kinds of vulnerability hotspots that require effective and immediate climate adaptation action and long-term policy,” said Dr. Dawn Wright, chief scientist at Esri. “This is essentially what we mean by the ‘Science of Where.’”

The findings paint a complex and concerning picture.

The most substantial land warming between 1997–2020 occurred in the far eastern Siberian tundra and throughout central Siberia. Approximately 99% of the Eurasian tundra region experienced significant warming, compared to 72% of Eurasian boreal forests.

While some hotspots in Siberia and the Northwest Territories of Canada grew drier, the researchers detected increased surface water and flooding in parts of North America, including Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and central Canada. These increases in water on the landscape over time are likely a sign of thawing permafrost.

  • Arctic hotspots study reveals areas of climate stress in Northern Alaska, Siberia
    Warming severity “hotspots” in Arctic-boreal region between 1997-2020 were detected by analyzing multiple variables including satellite imagery and long-term temperature records. Watts et al., 2025, Geophysical Research Letters. Credit: Christina Shintani / Woodwell Climate Research Center
  • Arctic hotspots study reveals areas of climate stress in Northern Alaska, Siberia
    Map of areas of severe to extremely severe drying in the Arctic-boreal region. Drying severity was determined by analyzing multiple variables from the satellite record. Watts et al., 2025, Geophysical Research Letters. Credit: Christina Shintani / Woodwell Climate Research Center
  • Arctic hotspots study reveals areas of climate stress in Northern Alaska, Siberia
    Map of areas that experienced vegetation climate stress in the Arctic-boreal region between 1997-2020 as detected by multiple variables from the satellite record. Watts et al., 2025, Geophysical Research Letters. Credit: Christina Shintani / Woodwell Climate Research Center

Among the 20 most vulnerable places the researchers identified, all contained permafrost.

“The Arctic and boreal regions are made up of diverse ecosystems, and this study reveals some of the complex ways they are responding to climate warming,” said Dr. Sue Natali, lead of the Permafrost Pathways project at Woodwell Climate and co-author of the study.

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“However, permafrost was a common denominator—the most climate-stressed regions all contained permafrost, which is vulnerable to thaw as temperatures rise. That’s a really concerning signal.”

For land managers and other decisionmakers, local and regional hotspot mapping like this can serve as a more useful monitoring tool than region-wide averages. Take, for instance, the example of COVID-19 tracking data: maps of county-by-county wastewater data tend to be more helpful tools to guide decision making than national averages, since rates of disease prevalence and transmission can vary widely among communities at a given moment in time.

So, too, with climate trends: local data and trend detection can support management and adaptation approaches that account for unique and shifting conditions on the ground.

The significant changes the team detected in the Siberian boreal forest region should serve as a wakeup call, said Watts.

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“These forested regions, which have been helping take up and store carbon dioxide, are now showing major climate stresses and increasing risk of fire. We need to work as a global community to protect these important and vulnerable boreal ecosystems, while also reining in fossil fuel emissions.”

More information:
Regional Hotspots of Change in Northern High Latitudes Informed by Observations From Space, Geophysical Research Letters (2025). DOI: 10.1029/2023GL108081

Provided by
Woodwell Climate Research Center

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Citation:
Arctic hotspots study reveals areas of climate stress in Northern Alaska and Siberia (2025, January 16)
retrieved 16 January 2025
from https://phys.org/news/2025-01-arctic-hotspots-reveals-areas-climate.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

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Alaska Airlines Flight Attendant Gets Fired For Twerking On The Job

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Alaska Airlines Flight Attendant Gets Fired For Twerking On The Job


A flight attendant’s viral TikTok video ended up costing her job. Nelle Diala, who was working as a flight attendant with Alaska Airlines for over six months was reportedly fired from her job after recording a twerking video while at work, the New York Post reported. After losing her job for “violating” the airline’s “social media policy”, Diala set up a GoFundMe page for financial support. The twerking and dancing video, posted by Diala on her personal social media account, went viral on TikTok and Instagram. The video was captioned, “ghetto bih till i D-I-E, don’t let the uniform fool you.”

After being fired, Diala reposted the twerking video with the new caption: “Can’t even be yourself anymore, without the world being so sensitive. What’s wrong with a little twerk before work, people act like they never did that before.” She added the hashtag #discriminationisreal.

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According to Diala’s GoFundMe page, she posted the “lighthearted video” during a layover. The video was shot in an empty aircraft. She wrote, “It was a harmless clip that was recorded at 6 am while waiting 2 hours for pilots. I was also celebrating the end of probation.”

“The video went viral overnight, but instead of love and support, it brought unexpected scrutiny. Although it was a poor decision on my behalf I didn’t think it would cost me my dream job,” she added.

Also Read: To Wi-Fi Or Not To Wi-Fi On A Plane? Pros And Cons Of Using Internet At 30,000 Feet

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Talking about being “wrongfully fired”, she said, “My employer accused me of violating their social media policy. I explained that the video wasn’t intended to harm anyone or the company, but they didn’t want to listen. Without warning, they terminated me. No discussion, no chance to defend myself-and no chance for a thorough and proper investigation.”

The seemingly “harmless clip” has led Diala to lose her “dream job”. She shared, “Losing my job was devastating. I’ve always been careful about what I share online, and I never thought this video, which didn’t even mention the airline by name, would cost me my career. Now, I am trying to figure out how to move forward.”






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