Environment

There is growing evidence that harmful algae blooms have widespread health impacts on everything from humans to whales. 

The north winds are blowing and it's cold; just the right combination to cool down the Northern Bering Sea.   "These strong, frigid winds out of the north, we could push ice quickly over the shelf,” said Phyllis Stabeno with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory. 

The seabirds that died by the hundreds of thousands last winter in the Gulf of Alaska appear to be the latest victims of what they're calling "the blob," a huge body of warm ocean water that dominated North Pacific marine systems during the last few years.

Ice plowing crews are back at their job of smoothing a trail from Tuluksak to Napaimute following several days of sub-freezing temperatures after the New Year warm-up. The crews are expected to reach Kalskag Wednesday and are hoping to get to Aniak by Thursday.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for the Yukon Delta and a winter weather advisory for the Lower Kuskokwim Valley.

The Lower Yukon Delta, which includes the villages around Mountain Village and St. Mary’s, went under warning Thursday morning and will remain under red alert until 6 p.m. Thursday night. The forecast for Thursday predicts patchy freezing fog, rain, freezing rain, and snow with little or no snow accumulation. South winds of 30 miles per hour with gusts to around 45 miles per hour are expected with high temperatures around 30.

Ice crews have plowed a 25-mile stretch of the Middle Kuskokwim from Kalskag downstream towards Tuluksak. The remaining stretch to Tuluksak will most likely be completed after Christmas. Mad Max, the crew’s 52-year-old plow truck, broke down Wednesday one mile above Edward Wise’s fish camp, after plowing just a few hundred feet that morning. The harmonic balancer tore a hole in the timing gear cover, and parts have been ordered. The delay could prevent people from traveling to see friends and family during the holiday.

Today, as the North Pole tilts its furthest point away from the sun, the Northern Hemisphere enters its shortest day and ends its longest night of the year. In Bethel, that day will stretch five hours and 37 minutes between sunrise at 10:57 a.m. and sunset at 6:34 p.m., according to the U.S. Naval Observatory.