Did you guys hear the awesome news, that the Obama administration just moved to protect some of the most remote areas of Alaska! Go Obama! Even though these plans might not be permanent, they are at least a step in the right direction.
In The Rearview Mirror pt.1
Flashback Friday
First Quarter of 2016
2016 went by so fast, but oh so slow. It is hard to find the balance between work, free time and also research time, at least for me. This year we decided that I should move from Alaska to Wisconsin, which meant I had a ton of things I needed to finish, ASAP. But I did and I moved. The first half of this year I spent in Alaska, the second half in Wisconsin, well, I guess technically 5 vs 7 months, but who counts?
January
I went back from christmas celebration in Bozeman already in December and celebrated the new year with Tycho in my little cabin in the woods. On new years day Tycho got sick, and I still don't know what happened but he's alright now! January had lots of Aurora of course, as always. I skied some and also tried out fatbiking for the very first time. Other than skiing, biking and hanging out in the cabin by the wood stove I of course worked on my own research to wrap things up.
February
More winterbiking, more aurora and more of hanging out at the cabin. Winters in Alaska can be rough but they are absolutely stunningly beautiful, and cold. I also went and saw the start of the Yukon Quest again, had more fika, and even a beer or two!
March
Finally March arrived and our Green Card Interview! W came to Alaska and we went down to Anchorage for the interview, with a pitstop in Talkeetna for a skirace and also to Homer for a short weekend adventure. These interviews are somewhat ridiculous but absolutely serious. Like when the guard to get into the building asks W if he has a hand-grenade or anything alike on him. Situations like that just makes me want to make a joke and say "ooh gee, I do have one in my back pocket", since you aren't allowed to bring any bags or almost anything into the meeting. On the way back we got a text saying that they started the production of the card!
The Land God Forgot - ANWR
The lonely sunsets flame and die;
The giant valleys gulp the night;
The monster mountains scrape the sky,
Where eager stars are diamond-bright.
Wednesday Thoughts
Arctic Air
Those are the recent good news when it comes to the arctic! You can read more about it here! In recent days we have gotten less good news, like the warmest year in 30 years in Alaska. Earlier in December we read about the lack of sea ice in the arctic sea, and the warm temperatures we have seen there. And we have also read about the effects of the warming on polar bears, or the problem with the overfull polar bear prison in Churchill, Manitoba.
It's a Burning Matter
These news aren't necessarily new new, we know that the arctic are seeing the highest increase in annual average temperature, and on top of that Alaska is one of the regions where this warming has been the most prominent. We know that the drying of the landscape combined with an increase in lightning frequency are increasing the annual area burned in northwestern North America. Burning of forests are natural, especially boreal forests and specifically black spruce. The problem is when these fires happen more frequently, that is, burn the same area within the same time period as it once back in time only burned once. But it's not only the burning itself, after the fire we can see changes in for instance the species composition of the vegetation, regrowth and also the effect on permafrost, and subsequently freshwater chemistry.
The beauty of the Arctic and Sub-arctic Region
Have you ever driven through the vast landscape up north? The endless tundra, black spruce and mountains, weaved together in this place that we call earth? It's so beautiful, and seem like very few people have actually seen it, or been spell bound by its beauty. I am not one of those, because this beauty of the nature is what I live for.
Do you have a favorite region of the world? I am burning for the Arctic and Sub-arctic, but I know other people are burning for other parts of this world.
