With a constantly warming and acidifying ocean, it doesn’t take much imagination to understand that climate change will have large impacts on Alaska’s fisheries. With stream and air temperatures increasing, certain streams will be harder for salmon to spawn in. A study conducted in 2016 documented changes in recent summer stream temperatures for Alaska salmon. They found that the temperature of most stream sites in Alaska “exceeded the established criterion for spawning and incubation (13 degrees C),” meaning that salmon are currently experiencing thermal stresses across the state to a point that compromises their health and reproduction².

Ocean acidification is a process where the excessive carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is being absorbed by the ocean, making it more acidic. According to a study conducted by NOAA and UAF scientists, Alaskan seas are projected to experience “strong global change” including rapid warming, acidification, and more. These changes will affect the health of Alaskan commercial, sport and subsistence fisheries. Red King crab and Tanner crab have already exhibited negative responses to the increasingly acidic oceanic environment; King crab specifically showing lower survival, growth, and calcium content in response to ocean acidification³. Both deep-water and high-latitude species, including those found in the Arctic, have less ability to respond to changes in acidity and are at a high risk of declining. In order to save our fisheries, we need to address climate change now.

Alaska state officials have begun identifying growing impacts of climate change. 80% of Alaska is covered by permafrost, which plays an important role in holding the land together⁴. As air temperatures rise to new records throughout the state, more permafrost is thawing. This means villages by the ocean and rivers, ones that have existed for centuries, are now susceptible to erosion and flooding. The U.S. Government of Accountability office has declared that “most of Alaska’s more than 200 Native villages are affected to some degree by flooding and erosion.” In addition to melting permafrost, since the average Arctic sea ice extent and quantity is decreasing every year, coastal villages are at an even higher risk of washing away from the ocean waves and surges due to the lack of sea ice protection.

With air temperatures increasing and shifts in the precipitation regime, the time frame, area, and intensity of wildfires will continue to increase. Living vegetation can sequester and hold carbon, acting as a carbon sink. Wildfires take the sequestered carbon in the vegetation, which may have been stored for hundreds of years, and release it in a matter of hours. This creates a positive feedback loop because many gases, including carbon dioxide, are released during wildfires; therefore, as more fires burn, the effects of climate change will increase, causing more fires.

Apart from contributing to climate change and destroying thousands of acres of precious habitat, the increased concentration of wildfire smoke has negative impacts on human health. There is a strong connection between the emissions from burning vegetation and human morbidity and mortality, as indicated by epidemiological and toxicological investigations.