Foreclosure seems to have been the word of 2008, and it looks like things are going to continue into 2009.  All over the United States people are losing jobs, which is resulting in homes being foreclosed.  While states like California seem to have been the hardest hit, Alaska has not been able to escape this trend, although the Arctic state has managed to maintain low foreclosure rates. more »

Canadian Environment minister Jim Prentice has called for a January 16^th meeting for a discussion on the future of the Arctic Polar bear.  Everyone from the Inuit to government officials have been invited to come and “discuss solutions that will help ensure a future for the polar bear.” more »

With Christmas mere hours away, Santa’s elves have put things into high gear getting the toys and reindeer ready for the big guy’s all important trip.  Things are pretty hectic year round at the North Pole, but December 22^nd to 24^th are the busiest days of the year for the helpers at Santa’s main headquarters. more »

With President Bush on his way out, president elect, Barrack Obama is already proving to be a friend of the environment.  While the outgoing administration was constantly criticized for its lack of environmental responsibility and its interest in merely making money, Obama is already distancing himself from that viewpoint by choosing scientists to be his top scientific advisors, something that makes sense, but isn’t always done. 

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In developing climate models to predict when the Arctic will be ice free, scientist note several “steps” to this ice-free state.   One of the key steps is what is known as Arctic amplification.  Arctic amplification transpires when the air temperature in the Arctic is significantly higher than we would normally expect to see during the fall due to the Arctic sea ice melting in the summer and the amassing heat that occurs in the ocean as a result. more »

Many think that in these tumultuous economic times, with the big “D” word (Depression) on everybody’s minds, if not necessarily their lips, it would be too expensive to fight off the current downfall of the environment. But several leading environmental groups disagree. They are claiming that now is the time to make a big move towards helping the environment not despite the economic crisis, but because of it.

With recent reports revealing that 2008 was one of the warmest year in the last century and the ice of the Arctic shelf melting at an incredible pace,  it seem all the more important for the American government to adopt a more aggressive environmental plan.  And according to Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists, “There’s economic opportunity if we do this right.”

The 29 environmental groups involved in coming up with a recommendations list for Obama are claiming that instead of draining what little monetary resources there are right now, fighting global warming and developing cleaner and more environmentally beneficial ways of producing and using energy will actually strengthen the economy.  The main theme of the group’s recommendation leaned heavily on the notion of a clean –energy approach, but they also included several suggestions involving the Alaska Arctic region and a scheme for conserving water and land resources throughout the nation.

The director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Frances Beinecke, says that by promoting such things as greener housing, the government could, in turn, create some much needed jobs.  And switching municipalities off the grid and putting everyone on solar and wind power could be another area of job creation.

The nearly 400 page recommendation also focused on other concerns such as invoking tougher emissions laws and a full review of all Arctic offshore drilling and gas pipeline project leases given under the Bush administration. They also recommend that no further leases be given out for the Arctic Ocean, Bristol Bay and other areas of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.

It seems that lately, as we approach the end of 2008, we are being bombarded with news of potential Arctic pipelines and offshore drilling projects.  Recently TranCanada has announced that its plans for a gas line are not dead and that they are going ahead as planned after being awarded an exclusive AGIA license from the state for the project.  But it looks like this exclusive license is not deterring other companies from moving in and attempting to build a pipeline. more »

The Aleutian Oslands sea otter population was deemed a threatened species three years ago under the Endangered Species Act.  By all estimates, there is less than half the number of northern sea otters alive today, with that number being around 40,000.  Because of this decline in the number of Arctic sea otters a federal agency is proposing that around 6,000 square miles of southwest Alaska shoreline be considered protected habitat for the otters. more »