Published Dec 19, 2022 by Ned Rozell The Arctic Report Card, a compilation of northern science by researchers from all over the planet — most of them doing work in Alaska — came out in mid-December at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Chicago.
In summary, what smart people predicted in 2006, during the first report card press conference, is still trending the same way: We are living in a much-warmer far north.
Some of the changes are subtle and hard for us to notice. For example, daily temperatures being a few degrees higher than that day in the past. Others are more striking, like Alaska beachcombers finding seabird carcasses washed up in twos and threes where in years before they saw none.
Of 117 seabird carcasses scientists examined from 2017 to 2021, 92 were emaciated.
What changed in the Bering and Chukchi seas, the former known as one of the richest fishing grounds on Earth?
Less ice floating on the top of northern oceans (a trend the Arctic Report Card scientists have quietly shouted about since its inception) allows water to absorb more heat from the sun.
The warmer ocean has probably caused nutrient-rich fish like sand lance and capelin to decline. This has happened while less-nutritious species like juvenile walleye pollock have increased in the waters offshore of western Alaska.
Biologists have referred to pollock as “junk food,” which may not be able to sustain birds or at least make them hesitant or unable to lay eggs.
“Observations at northern seabird breeding colonies indicate lack of breeding attempts or very late and unsuccessful breeding over several years,” the scientists wrote. “The seabird die-offs stem from a lack of food or unfavorable foraging conditions, indicating ecosystem changes that may be associated with abnormally high ocean water temperatures.”
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