Environment

This weekend’s storms tore more land away from Napakiak’s already heavily eroded riverbank. About 8 feet of bank fell into the Kuskokwim River, adding to the more than 100 feet of shoreline that has already been lost this year.

Newtok is the nation’s first community to relocate due to climate change, and the military is lending a hand. U.S. troops are working side by side with Newtok residents to build new homes. 

Salmon have been found dead in rivers across Western Alaska this summer. The largest die-off reported comes from the Koyukuk River, a tributary of the Yukon. KYUK reports that scientists suspect that the summer’s record heat is the cause.

Wildfires have consumed nearly 2 million acres in Alaska so far this summer. In the Southwest part of the state, fires have scorched almost 500,000 acres in the past month. Alaska climatologist Rick Thoman says that this year fits into a trend of longer and more devastating wildfire seasons. 

There have been 178 fires so far this summer in Alaska, and 58 of those are currently burning in the Southwest Region. While most of the fires are remote, a few are threatening communities on the Kuskokwim River and the proposed Donlin Gold mine site.