What Is Alaska An Ever Changing Place

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is located in the Northeastern part of Alaska and is the largest wildlife in the country. The ANWR covers more than 19 million acres of forests, mountains, wetlands, tundra, and rivers, and it is the habitat to distinctive and

There are many states in North America. Formally known as the United States of America. From New York to California, you could find millions of different types of people, and cultures from around the world. But how about a state that is so isolated from them all, that many people forget it was even added as the 49th state to the country? The lone state of Alaska is to the north west of the major states and if laid on top of the other states, would cover about two-thirds of the land. And for a state that is so large, it is surely simply thought of as the coldest state. Alaska is much more then that, and has a lot of history behind just a land of snow and mountains.

"Climate change is a change in the statistical properties of the climate system that persists for several decades or longer" (Montgomery, 2015). Climate change (or global warming) can be caused by a natural progress such as sun 's radiations and volcanoes, or it can be caused by human 's actions such as land use, deforestation, and pollution. (Hardy, 2003).This phenomenon not only affects the environment, but it also affects human lives. Alaska is the largest state in the United States. It includes lands on both sides of the Arctic Circle. Sixteen national wildlife refuges are home to a great variety of flora and fauna. In the past 60 years. The Alaska 's environment changed drastically; the climate is warming up as twice as much in comparison to all the other states. This essay will discuss firstly the climate change in the Alaskan environment. Then it will highlight the changes in the ocean and costs, the effects that global warming is having on Alaska 's natives and the melting permafrost. It will then finally address who is responsible for this effects and some measures that can be taken.

Southeast Alaska contains 10.9 million acres of forest land. Forty percent of southeast Alaska’s forest land or 4.4 million acres is reserved federal land and includes National Park Service or U.S. Forest Service lands, national forest wilderness areas, and federal game refuges (Campbell et al. 2004). The coastal rainforest of southeast Alaska spans across the majority of the coast and at KLGO, the coastal rainforest spans from sea level to around 3500 feet in elevation. Southeast Alaska receives high levels of annual precipitation and coniferous trees dominate the area, although Skagway receives less precipitation compared to the rest of the region. Coastal rainforest vegetation around KLGO includes: western and mountain hemlock, Sitka spruce,

The increasing global temperatures have caused many problems in Arctic ecosystems. The increasing warmth has caused ice caps to melt, and permafrost to thaw, causing shifts in the ecosystems around them. 1According to Harris (2005) “Permafrost is soil, rock or sediment that is frozen for more than two consecutive years. In areas not overlain by ice, it exists beneath a layer of soil, rock or sediment, which freezes and thaws annually and is called the "active layer".” (p. 17). While the melting of ice may not seem like a big issue at first glance, its effects are truly catastrophic. Many professionals in this field, such as Houghton (2009) have said 2“Warming is expected to be strongest in the Arctic, with the continuing retreat of

Lemmings, the arctic bumblebee, and the Labrador tea-plant are all examples of organisms that live in the tundra. They have all had to adapt to continue their species. However, the cold temperatures are not the only unforgiving things in the tundra. Over hunting in the tundra is leading to many species and organisms becoming endangered. Because there is permafrost in the ground of the tundra global warming will reach its tipping point. Once the permafrost melts in the tundra it will release methane gas speeding up the global warming process exponentially. The thawed permafrost also allows for nonnative plants to grow in the tundra. Although, the tundra is the second most deadly environment on earth it holds the most vital place in global

Ice or snow there ready to go, the geography of alaska is hard to explore because

Research found that Alaska is made up of about 5% of ice; this may not seem like a lot but Alaska’s land area is about 571,951sm meaning that about 28,500sm of Alaska is ice, that’s about the size of about 7 Hawaii’s. On this ice, wildlife such as Polar Bears and Caribou live. Thanks the Global Warming this ice is being melted away, making homes for these animals even smaller, this causes these animals to have to migrate to other regions. If Global Warming doesn’t stop all of Alaska’s ice will melt. When this happens were will these animals go? Polar Bears, along with other animals are already endangered and Global warming has been a major cause of this. Research

It contains an expanse of tundra with many marshes and lagoons with rivers situated between foothills of the Brooks Range and the wide, icy waters of the Beaufort Sea. Environmentalists said that this area “is the most biologically productive part of the Arctic Refuge for wildlife and is the center if wildlife activity.” The importance of these resources is not measurable. The Arctic is home to such animals as caribou, polar bears, grizzly bears, musk oxen, whales, wolves and snow geese. This area is full of wildflowers and contains water of excellent, unpolluted quality and quantity. The Arctic Ocean costal plain is an area critical to the survival of many birds and mammals (‘Alaska Wild’).

First of all, Alaska is a place that has beauty under the ice… A vast land, with its majority of carnivorous creatures from the size of a spec of dirt, to the largest creatures such as the Orca Whale, which is also known as the ‘Killer Whale’. Wildlife is one of Alaska’s many gifts. There are many other factors to this majestic, and icy

Alaska is as dangerous as how beautiful it is. The geography of Alaska is difficult to explore and settle because of the cold, difficult to find food, and of the long travels by foot. Someone would have to be really skilled to survive this. Alaska looks beautiful in the out side, but in the inside, its deadly.

Using the film and their theories, Bears shows the possible outcomes of Climate Change in Alaska and on the bears, and how they affect the other. Michael Carey emphasizes the idea that people once thought of Alaska as an “unchanging, eternal face,” but now consider it the “center of national and international climate change discussion.” Monika P. Calef treated Alaska’s Climate Change and what Bears portrays from a vegetation perspective, claiming that with the decrease of tundra areas due to Climate Change, forested areas were growing due to Alaska’s warmer temperatures, as well as causing other habitats to change and give other resources. Lowell H. Suring with his ideas of human impact related that other environmental factors influenced the “availability of important foods” for bears. Each of these articles relates to how Bears change what Alaska means to us as an unchangeable wilderness to a wilderness that is changing due to Climate Change. In addition, Bears means to us that Climate Change will not only change the life of the Alaskan bears, but it will change the lives of those who are also in our environment and any others in the future that come after

The animals in Alaska can be as scary as watching the scariest movie ever.The animals include bears,moose,and elk.It can be hard to explore because of this I know this because I saw it in the video.It can be especially dangerous in spring because there are babies and the mother of the animals can be very scary.I know what animals are there because it showed them in the national geographic video.Though the animals look nice they can be mean.They

Including 1,100 different types of vertebrates. The Alaskan people love to fish it is one of their favorite things to do. One a the main fish caught in Alaska is Halibut. I personally have gone deep sea fishing in Alaska and caught a Halibut, they taste great and are big fish. Although the fish play a big role they’re not the only animals in Alaska. There are a lot of black bears in Alaska. It is the most widely spread animal in Alaska. They are about 60 in from their head to tail. They weigh about 180-200 lbs In the spring when they eat a lot and prepare for hibernation. These bears are huge I know from experience, we were on a train in Alaska and we saw a bear and it stood up and it looked to be about 9 feet tall. Not only was it tall but when it roared it was almost louder than the train. “Black bears have adequate sense of sight and hearing, but have an outstanding sense of smell.” This means that the bear must of heard the train and came to it, i'm glad it came because it was one of the coolest things I saw while I was

The geography of Alaska make it difficult to explore and settle because of the landscape. In the landscape there is mountains, lakes, cliffs, rivers, and forest.