This week there was a conference in Anchorage on this subject. Concerned indigenous people testified to the anomolies that are occurring in their lands and villages as well as on the ocean.
It's not only happening in Alaska, of course. All the far northern lands are reporting the same things. I think especially of the polar bears that congregate in Churchill, Manitoba, where they forage while they wait for the ice to form and firm up. It's taking longer. And it's not just coastal either. Interior Alaska's buildings are sinking lopsidedly into the tundra to a degree unknown since the experts figured out how to correct for permafrost. It's a whole different ballgame out there. One of the worrisome facts is that there is such a thing as a tilt point after which things can go to hell relatively speedily.
"Atmospheric temperatures in the remote state have risen 3.6 to 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit (2 to 3 degrees C) over the past five decades, according to the recently released Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, a comprehensive study by scientists from eight nations.
"That heating,>/b> most pronounced in winter and spring, is much more dramatic than in the rest of the world, which has had an average increase in land surface temperatures of 1 degree F (0.6 C) over the last century, according to the Environmental Protection Agency."