Alaska

New study raises concerns as major icefield in Alaska melts at alarming rate

Published

3 days ago

July 13, 2024

New study raises concerns as major icefield in Alaska melts at alarming rate

JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU/Gray News) – A new study highlighted the shrinking Juneau Icefield in southeast Alaska as an example of how Earth’s glaciers are nearing an “irreversible” tipping point for melting.

“If there are processes in Alaska that are accelerating the melt, they may be relevant to other parts of the world as well,” said Bethan Davies, the paper’s lead author, about the global significance of studying Alaska’s glaciers.

The Juneau Icefield is home to dozens of large glaciers — including the popular Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau — and many more smaller ones. By 2100, many of these glaciers are at risk of disappearing. Experts say if the Earth continues to warm, nearly 70% of the world’s roughly 200,000 glaciers will dry up by the end of the century.

The approximately 1,500-square-mile Juneau Icefield blankets the mountains north of Juneau.(U.S. Geological Service)

“When we look at the last 10 years worth of glacier change over all of Alaska, we are seeing a real uptick [in melting] that’s faster than in some other parts of the world,” said Davies, who is also the glaciologist and senior lecturer in Physical Geography at Newcastle University. “And it’s very interesting to ask why that’s happening and why these glaciers are not only accelerating but also how they might behave in the future.”

The study, published this month in the journal Nature Communications, showed from the years 1770 to 1979, ice volume loss remained fairly consistent, at roughly 1 kilometer cubed per year.

From 1979 to 2010, there was slightly more melting, but the loss at 3.1 kilometers cubed per year remained fairly consistent.

However, from 2010 through 2020, the Juneau Icefield’s melting rate doubled to almost 6 kilometers cubed per year. That’s the equivalent of 2.4 million Olympic-size swimming pools melting off of the icefield each year.

The Mendenhall Glacier is one of the dozens of major glaciers that extend out from the Juneau... — The Mendenhall Glacier is one of the dozens of major glaciers that extend out from the Juneau Icefield.(Alaska’s News Source)

That icefield thinning led to the formation of Suicide Basin, which saw its first glacial lake outburst in 2011.

“This can only happen because that whole glacier system, as was pointed out in the study, is thinning,” Alaska climate specialist Rick Thoman said. “It’s thinning a lot and it’s thinning rapidly.”

This water release will happen every year, with some years seeing the potential for historic flooding. But as the glacier keeps thinning, Suicide Basin will reach a point where a glacial lake outburst will no longer form.

However, Thoman says newer basins can form.

“It’s entirely possible given the complex nature of the Juneau Icefield, we might see a new glacier dammed lake form in some other part of the system,” Thoman said. “But as last year showed, when there’s a lot of water in these glacier-dammed lakes, and when they release all the water, we get the devastation that we saw last August.”

All of that melting eventually gets dumped into the ocean. According to Davies, glacier melt accounts for about a quarter of the total sea level rise. The remainder comes from the Antarctic ice, Greenland ice sheet and thermal expansion of the ocean.

“A part of the world that’s contributing the most to sea level rise is Alaska,” Davies said. “The Alaskan glaciers are really important in the global context because there’s a large volume of ice.”

She said this study isn’t relevant to just Alaska, because the same processes occurring here in Alaska may be relevant to other parts of the world.

“What’s happening is that the temperature is gradually increasing,” Davies said. “But as that happens, there’s a series of processes that are accelerating melt or amplifying melt.”

One of those processes is the snow line, which continues to dwindle during the summer months.

Davies said the end of summer snow line is actually reaching the top of the low slope, plateau area. This is historically lower than in previous decades when snow was covering the plateau all year round.

Another challenge is that as more of the plateau is exposed, it’s darkening the mountain as more rocks are exposed from the melting ice.

“When we remove the snow, we are reflecting less of the sun’s energy back into space,” Davies said. “Because snow is very bright and white and reflective. So what we’re doing when we raise that end of summer snow line is we expose much more of the glacier to that darker color so it can absorb more of the sun’s energy.”

Thoman said with the summer snow line dwindling, the atmosphere’s snow level rises with atmospheric rivers aiding in transporting warmer air.

“To hold as much water in the air as those atmospheric rivers bring, the air has to be warm,” Thoman said. “If it was colder it wouldn’t be able to hold as much moisture.”

Thoman said it’s both the high precipitation events and warm airmass that are helping to drive snow levels very high into the atmosphere, which can and do occur all winter long, some years.

Climatologically speaking, Juneau temperatures have warmed a few degrees over the last several decades. And while that may not seem like much, when temperatures are hovering around freezing, that can still have large impacts.

“We’re right around that freezing level,” Thoman said. “So an increase of 31 to 33 [degrees], say, as an average temperature is much more significant when you’re talking about snow and ice than say an increase of 40 to 43.”

Davies doesn’t think the Earth’s ice has passed the point of irreversible change but does argue that such a threshold could occur by the end of this century.

And if the feedback loop of melting continues, the icefield will eventually reach a point where it will be difficult to recover from.

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Alaska

Alaska News Nightly: Monday, July 15, 2024

Published

6 hours ago

July 15, 2024

Press Room

Julie Greene-Graham hands out meals to people living out of tents near Central Lutheran Church in Anchorage on Wednesday, July 11, 2024. (Matt Faubion/Alaska Public Media)

Stories are posted on the statewide news page. Send news tips, questions, and comments to news@alaskapublic.org. Follow Alaska Public Media on Facebook and on Twitter @AKPublicNews. And subscribe to the Alaska News Nightly podcast.

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Police shoot an armed man in Downtown Juneau. Also, An Anchorage nonprofit hopes tiny homes will help shelter homeless residents. And, Anchorage police propose a 45-day timeline to release body camera footage of critical incidents.

Monday on Alaska News Nightly:

Clarise Larson in Juneau,
Jeremy Hsieh, Liz Ruskin and Chris Klint in Anchorage,
Davis Hovey in Kodiak,
Ashlyn O’Hara in Kenai,
Sage Smiley in Akiachak.

This episode of Alaska News Nightly is hosted by Wesley Early, with audio engineering from Chris Hyde.

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Alaska

Alaska Airlines Adds 18 Sunny and Ski Destinations for Winter Travel – Business Traveler USA

Published

14 hours ago

July 15, 2024

Press Room

Alaska Airlines Adds 18 Sunny and Ski Destinations for Winter Travel – Business Traveler USA

Alaska Airlines is expanding its winter travel schedule with 18 new routes to sun-drenched vacation hotspots and snowy getaways, including a brand-new destination: Eagle, Colorado (EGE), for the fashionable ski resort Vail.

For winter travelers who like to chase warm temperatures, the carrier will offer seven new routes to Mexico.

Between December and February, Alaska will operate a daily flight between Fresno (FAT) and Guadalajara (GDL).

Starting in January and running into the spring, Alaska will introduce a four-times-weekly flight between New York City (JFK) and Puerto Vallarta (PVR), the first nonstop link between New York state and the resort town.

Alaska will also launch once-weekly flights from Sacramento (SMF), Kansas City (MCI), and St. Louis (STL) to Puerto Vallarta and another route from Kansas City to Cancún (CUN). A five-times weekly flight will shuttle Sacramentans to Los Cabos (SJD) and the top Mexican tourist destination, Cabo San Lucas.

Photo: Cabo San Lucas. Courtesy of John Cafazza / Unsplash.

These seasonal routes join the two new Mexican destinations Alaska Airlines unveiled last week: La Paz (LAP) in Baja California Sur and Monterrey (MTY), to be served year-round from Los Angeles (LAX) starting this fall.

Alaska will also increase its flights to Liberia, Costa Rica (LIR), a destination it first reached in 2015 and currently serves from LAX. Between December and May, Alaska will fly once weekly to Costa Rica from its hubs in Seattle (SEA) and San Francisco (SFO).

With the addition of the Costa Rica flight, Alaska will operate 104 nonstop flights from its home base of Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. The flights will also underline Alaska’s status as “the largest U.S. carrier between the West Coast and Latin America,” it says.

For those searching for winter snow, Alaska is also adding links to North America’s best ski resorts. That includes its first service to Eagle County Regional Airport, the gateway to Vail and its slopes, from Seattle and San Diego (SAN).

Photo: Vail, Colorado. Katie Musial on Unsplash

A new flight from LAX to Kelowna, Canada (YLW) will connect Angelinos to British Colombia’s best ski resorts. At the same time, San Diegans will have easier access to Reno (REN) and the ski resorts around Lake Tahoe.

Other new routes on the list target vacation favorites: a seasonal service between Boise, Idaho (BOI) and Bozeman, Montana (BZN), gateway to Yellowstone National Park, and winter flights from Sacramento and Boise to Orlando (MCO) for Central Florida’s warm weather and theme park smorgasbord.

The only year-round service on the list is a link between Boise and John Wayne Airport (SNA) in California, just miles from Disneyland.

Photo: Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9. Courtesy of Alaska Airlines

“We’re thrilled to offer convenient connection for guests across our network with this expansion—whether checking destinations off their bucket lists or setting off to their favorite winter getaways, we’ve put together an exciting range of options from tropical destinations across Mexico to the most popular ski slopes in North America,” Kirsten Amrine, vice president of network planning and revenue management at Alaska Airlines, said.

By doubling down on leisure travel, Alaska Airlines may be hoping to offset the slow recovery of its corporate travel business following the pandemic. The airline has been particularly hit by slashed travel budgets among the tech giants near its Seattle and San Francisco hubs. While meetings can be Zoom calls, Alaska is betting that real-life vacations still have appeal.

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Alaska

Norwegian Jewel Alaska Review 2024 [Podcast]

Published

21 hours ago

July 15, 2024

Press Room

Norwegian Jewel Alaska Review 2024 [Podcast]

In this podcast episode, Amy discusses her seven-night Alaska cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Jewel. She shares her pre-cruise experiences in Vancouver, the smooth embarkation process, and her impressions of the stateroom.

Amy talks about the dining options, entertainment, and her participation in the “Newlywed Show.” She describes the ports of call, including Ketchikan, Juneau, and Skagway, and highlights her Glacier Bay experience.

Amy also provides tips on packing, saving money, and making the most of the cruise. She concludes with her overall positive impressions of the Norwegian Jewel and the Alaska itinerary.

This episode is brought to you by TripInsurance.com, giving you three levels of travel protection — Good, Better, and Best — a travel insurance policy for every budget.

(Photo courtesy of Norwegian Cruise Line)

Timestamps:

The pre-cruise thoughts (00:00:29): Amy’s decision to cruise to Alaska, her travel history, and the factors influencing her choice.
Travel to Vancouver (00:01:20): Amy’s travel from Nashville to Vancouver, including flight experiences and a hotel stay in Vancouver.
Embarkation (00:03:59): The embarkation process in Vancouver, including customs clearance and boarding the ship.
Stateroom (00:06:47): Amy’s choice of an inside stateroom, the stateroom’s features, and her experience during the cruise.
Dining (00:09:03): Discussion of the buffet and main dining room experiences, including the flexibility of freestyle dining.
Entertainment (00:13:53): Overview of the entertainment options on the seven-night cruise, including shows, movies, and comedy performances.
The Newlywed Game (00:14:36): Amy shares her experience of participating in the ship’s version of the Newlywed Game, including the embarrassment and fun.
Cruise Ship Crowds (00:16:27): Discussion of the lack of crowds on the ship and her experiences during sea days, including the availability of entertainment venues.
Casino Experience (00:17:46): Amy shares her casino experience, including the heat and the level of smoke in the casino.
Port of Call: Ketchikan (00:19:02): The docking situation in Ketchikan and her excursion to a rainforest wildlife sanctuary and totem park.
Port of Call: Juneau (00:22:06): Amy talks about her bike and brewery tour in Juneau, the visit to Mendenhall Glacier, and the tram ride.
Port of Call: Skagway (00:24:13): Discussion about the summit scenic drive, brewery visits, and the unique Alaskan liquor laws.
Glacier Bay Viewing (00:27:59): Amy shares her experience of viewing Glacier Bay from different spots on the ship and the crowded crew pool area.
The balcony dilemma (00:29:01): Discussion of her wish for a balcony stateroom and the price difference.
Navigating the Gulf of Alaska (00:29:42): Amy talks about the navigation through the Gulf of Alaska and the experience at sea.
Disembarkation logistics (00:30:27): Amy shares her experience with disembarkation, transportation options, and excursion choices.
Alaska Tour Saver benefits (00:32:45): Discussion of the benefits of using the Alaska Tour Saver book for discounts on tours and transportation.
Cruise ship amenities and packing tips (00:34:37): Amy talks about the amenities on the Norwegian Jewel and gives tips on packing for an Alaska cruise.
Flight arrangements and tips (00:37:03): Amy shares her experience with flight arrangements and provides tips for finding good deals on flights.
Cruise highlights and final thoughts (00:38:17): Amy reflects on the highlights of the cruise and shares her final thoughts on the Norwegian Jewel.