• Another key species is the muskox of Banks Island and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coast. (wikipedia.org)
  • 90% of natural habitat remains intact, except for the vicinity of Utqiaġvik, Alaska and the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and Kuparuk which are expanding along the coast and may in future spread into the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which is the only major protected area on this coast (see Arctic Refuge drilling controversy), and on and around the Dalton Highway and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. (wikipedia.org)
  • I was on my stomach in the grassy tundra of the coastal plain of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (digital-photography-school.com)
  • The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the U.S. Geological Survey maintain a network of monitoring stations across the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (fws.gov)
  • Arctic National Wildlife Refuge sustains people, wildlife, and fish in the northeastern corner of Alaska, a vast landscape of rich cultural traditions and thriving ecological diversity. (fws.gov)
  • In an aggressive move that angered Republicans, the Biden administration canceled the seven remaining oil and gas leases in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Wednesday, overturning sales held in the Trump administration's waning days, and proposed stronger protections against development on vast swaths of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. (wtop.com)
  • FILE - Caribou graze in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, on June 1, 2001. (wtop.com)
  • In an aggressive move that angered Republicans, the Biden administration on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023, canceled seven oil and gas leases in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, overturning sales held in the Trump administration's waning days, and proposed stronger protections against oil drilling in 13 million acres of wilderness in the state's National Petroleum Reserve. (wtop.com)
  • FILE - In this undated file photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, caribou from the Porcupine caribou herd migrate onto the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Alaska. (woodtv.com)
  • Few places on the planet have experienced less humanity than the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (environmentamerica.org)
  • On Dec. 6, 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower preserved this natural wonder by establishing 19 million acres as the Arctic National Wildlife Range-later renamed the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. (environmentamerica.org)
  • And while it's hard to deny that the jackpot of all untapped domestic oil lies just north of the Arctic Circle, in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, it's tougher to say whether or not extracting this energy will benefit our nation in the long run. (cnn.com)
  • Muskoxen are a unique and majestic species that call the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge home. (skolaiimages.com)
  • On the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, for example, as many as 300,000 snow geese congregate every September to feast on cottongrass and other plants. (nwf.org)
  • Arguably the most contentious of those decisions will concern what's known as the 1002 Area, a piece of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that Congress could approve for oil development, and portions of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) that are particularly rich in wildlife. (nwf.org)
  • 1. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge includes nearly 20 million acres (about the size of South Carolina). (funtrivia.com)
  • 7. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has many roads, lodging, and campsites. (funtrivia.com)
  • 8. What is the name of the study area, for oil and gas development, in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge? (funtrivia.com)
  • 10. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is just a big, desolate piece of land. (funtrivia.com)
  • ANWR is the largest designated wilderness area (8 million acres) in the National Wildlife Refuge System, almost all of it being north of the Arctic Circle. (funtrivia.com)
  • The 19.6 million acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Alaska is one of the wildest, most pristine places in the United States. (nwf.org)
  • Breeds on tundra of northern Alaska and northern Canada. (borealbirds.org)
  • Breeds on coastal tundra around shores of Arctic Ocean, farther inland in Alaska. (borealbirds.org)
  • It breeds from northern Alaska to the north-central Arctic, and winters at sea from southern California to Peru. (birdweb.org)
  • Breeds on the Arctic tundra and winters in northern Eurasia and North America, where it favors expansive open habitats. (ebird.org)
  • Distribution - This species breeds in coastal Alaska and the Canadian Arctic and winters along the Pacific coasts south to California and the Carolinas. (bcadventure.com)
  • The King Eider (Somateria spectabilis) is a large sea duck that breeds along Northern Hemisphere Arctic coasts of northeast Europe, North America and Asia. (zooborns.com)
  • Andresen, C. G. & Lougheed, V. L. Disappearing Arctic tundra ponds: Fine-scale analysis of surface hydrology in drained thaw lake basins over a 65 year period (1948-2013). (nature.com)
  • Here we use 70 years of satellite images and aerial photography to show the scale and magnitude of northwestward beaver expansion in Alaska, indicated by the construction of over 10,000 beaver ponds in the Arctic tundra. (nature.com)
  • We surveyed satellite images of nearly every stream, river, and lake in the Alaska Arctic tundra and identified 11,377 beaver ponds on streams, sloughs, and lake outlets, revealing the recent footprint of this disturbance regime (Figs. 1 and 2 ). (nature.com)
  • About 100 avian species migrate to this region every summer to breed, taking advantage of its constant light, unique landforms, insect explosions, meltwater ponds, coastal lagoons and a host of other seasonal attractions. (nwf.org)
  • winters mostly in wilder coastal areas, open prairies, farmland and marshes. (birdforum.net)
  • Crossing this threshold has fuelled fears that we are fast approaching converging 'tipping points' -- melting of the subarctic tundra or the thawing and releasing of the vast quantities of methane in the Arctic sea bottom -- that will accelerate global warming beyond any human capacity to stop it. (commondreams.org)
  • Is beaver encroachment in tundra a novelty or a novel disturbance regime already transforming lowland tundra ecosystems? (nature.com)
  • The birds spend most of the year in coastal marine ecosystems at high latitudes, and migrate to Arctic tundra to breed in June and July. (zooborns.com)
  • Norway's dependencies of Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands.Whilst the freezing waters of the polar Arctic are not a natural destination for recreational divers, there are a number of important Large Marine Ecosystems (LME¬πs) that are worthy of note.The Kara Sea Large is located within the Arctic Circle on the huge Siberian shelf. (earthdive.com)
  • The study areas have primarily focused on southern Canada and the comprised tundra, boreal, and mountain ecosystems. (cdc.gov)
  • BECC focuses on three Grand Challenges that must be tackled to assess the combined consequences of anthropogenic emissions, climate and land-use change on biodiversity and ecosystem services and provide a basis for informed societal responses, with a focus on critical changes in forest, agricultural, urban and arctic ecosystems, including interactions between terrestrial and aquatic systems. (lu.se)
  • Our hydrological model simulations show that advanced ice-wedge degradation can significantly alter the water balance of lowland tundra by reducing inundation and increasing runoff, in particular due to changes in snow distribution as troughs form. (nature.com)
  • This region provides calving habitat for four herds of caribou, the Western Arctic, Teshekpuk, Central Arctic, and Porcupine caribou herds. (wikipedia.org)
  • In Alaska, wildlife such as moose ( Alces alces ), which depend on shrub forage protruding from the snow in winter, have moved into tundra regions during the last century concurrent with an increase in their shrub habitat 12 . (nature.com)
  • Recent observations from Alaska suggest that beavers ( Castor canadensis ) are also moving into tundra regions, possibly due to climate change increasing habitat ( e.g. shrubs, open water in winter, longer growing season), population rebound following overtrapping, or other factors 14 . (nature.com)
  • Some species have restricted habitat requirements, whereas others occur contiguously from the arid plains or humid southeastern forests to the high tundra. (jhu.edu)
  • As you make your way through the museum and aquarium, you pass through wildlife and habitat displays from different parts of the world, including the Rocky Mountains, southern bayous, plains of Africa and Arctic Tundra. (outdoorlife.com)
  • It is the central calving ground for the Porcupine caribou herd, and the most important land denning habitat for polar bears in the Alaskan arctic. (nwf.org)
  • It is habitat for wolves and grizzly bears, and year-round home to muskoxen, arctic foxes and wolverines. (nwf.org)
  • Beavers were not previously recognized as an Arctic species, and their engineering in the tundra is considered negligible. (nature.com)
  • A stunning diversity of frog species can be found from coastal swamps to lofty mountain peaks, and from the Florida Keys to the Arctic Ocean. (jhu.edu)
  • polar bears, foxes, porcupines and more than 200 species of migratory birds thrive in this frosty sanctuary above the Arctic Circle. (environmentamerica.org)
  • 5. Nearly 180 species of birds have been seen on the Arctic Refuge. (funtrivia.com)
  • A total of 135 bird species have been recorded on the Refuge's coastal plain, and about 70 of them are regular nesters. (nwf.org)
  • Northern pintail ducks, mallards, red-throated loons, tundra swans and white-fronted geese are among the many other migratory species known to inhabit the Arctic coastal plain during the year. (nwf.org)
  • Many other wildlife species rely on the coastal plain. (nwf.org)
  • I pulled back, composing so that the caribou were visible beyond the bird, almost lost in the heat waves coming off the summer tundra (above). (digital-photography-school.com)
  • The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's 1.5-million-acre (600,000-hectare) coastal plain, which lies along the Beaufort Sea on Alaska's northeastern edge, is seen as sacred by the Indigenous Gwich'in because it is where caribou they rely on migrate and come to give birth. (wtop.com)
  • The coastal plain is vital for the 200,000 strong Porcupine caribou herd, who annually use this area for protection and sustenance as they birth and nurture their calves. (environmentamerica.org)
  • Protecting the Arctic Refuge means protecting the caribou and the wolf, the eagle and the polar bear, the mountain and the river, the Gwich'in life and culture, the beauty and the silence, that should remain undisturbed by industrialization. (environmentamerica.org)
  • 4. Each spring, the Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain is the calving ground for a herd of caribou. (funtrivia.com)
  • The underlying soil of this damp Arctic coast is thick, solid permafrost, covered in summer with thermokarst "thaw lakes" of melted ice. (wikipedia.org)
  • Figure 2: Thawing permafrost and ice-wedge tops, Isachsen, Canadian High Arctic. (nature.com)
  • Recent findings suggest that beavers have moved into Arctic tundra regions and are controlling surface water dynamics, which strongly influence permafrost and landscape stability. (nature.com)
  • Rapidly expanding beaver engineering has created a tundra disturbance regime that appears to be thawing permafrost and exacerbating the effects of climate change. (nature.com)
  • However, as the permafrost thaws and coastal erosion increases, some of these natural iceboxes are beginning to disappear. (usgs.gov)
  • The increase in temperature in the Arctic, which has already made an impact in the form of reduced sea-ice cover during the summer, may also cause the permafrost to melt. (phys.org)
  • Large amounts of organic carbon are currently stored within the permafrost and if this is released and gets carried by the rivers out into the coastal waters, then it will result in an increased release of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere," says Sofia Hjalmarsson, native of Falkenberg and postgraduate student at the Department of Chemistry. (phys.org)
  • Permafrost also makes the tundra vulnerable to disturbance. (funtrivia.com)
  • There are also extensive kelp forests and eelgrass beds in coastal lagoons. (earthdive.com)
  • The North of the country sits within the Arctic Circle and as such does see icy blasts whipping across the tundra. (expatfocus.com)
  • Most of this Nordic country lies above the Arctic Circle, within the subarctic climate zone. (worldatlas.com)
  • While it's easy to care about a place close to home, a region above the Arctic Circle seems so far away for most of us. (environmentamerica.org)
  • Just south of the Arctic Circle, Iceland is a large island between the North Atlantic Ocean and the Greenland Sea between Europe and Greenland. (cumorah.com)
  • As she watched the blips of the 12 birds move north on her computer screen, five flew right past their original home in Interior Alaska and kept on going-beyond the Arctic Circle, over the Brooks Range and onto the state's Arctic coastal plain. (nwf.org)
  • Although the Arctic Circle is the official line that separates the Arctic from the rest of the world, the practical dividing line for birds that summer on Alaska's Arctic coastal plain is the Brooks Range. (nwf.org)
  • This 700-mile-wide, treeless strip of mountains reaches across the entire state just north of the Arctic Circle. (nwf.org)
  • Each winter a few move south to coastal beaches and marshes. (borealbirds.org)
  • Often encountered on lakeshores and in coastal areas with fields, marshes, piers, and sand dunes. (ebird.org)
  • They spend the colder seasons in southern coastal marshes, bays, wet grasslands, and fields. (nationalgeographic.com)
  • The debate about how to handle the Arctic Refuge dates back to 1930 when forester Bob Marshall wrote about "repulsing the tyrannical ambition of civilization to conquer every niche on the whole earth. (environmentamerica.org)
  • Now, for decades, we've been locked in a perennial struggle to protect the Arctic Refuge. (environmentamerica.org)
  • In 2017, drilling proponents temporarily prevailed when Congress opened up the Arctic Refuge to oil and gas development. (environmentamerica.org)
  • We've come a long way in 61 years, and yet the Arctic Refuge remains in jeopardy. (environmentamerica.org)
  • The Build Back Better Act (BBBA), which has passed through the House of Representatives, provides protections for the Arctic Refuge. (environmentamerica.org)
  • Republicans in Congress - along with President Bush - want vast sections of the country currently off-limits to drilling opened, including the Arctic Refuge. (cnn.com)
  • 3. The Refuge is largely comprised of tundra (grass and sedge dominated vegetation) under which is a permanently frozen layer. (funtrivia.com)
  • The 1.5 million acres of its coastal plain being proposed for oil exploration, often referred to as the 1002 Area, are the most biologically productive part of the Refuge, and the heart of its wildlife activity. (nwf.org)
  • The additional five percent in the Arctic Refuge has been formally protected since the Eisenhower administration for its unique wilderness and wildlife values. (nwf.org)
  • These stations report real-time data on snow and soil conditions that may be used to help support future planning of tundra travel on the coastal plain. (fws.gov)
  • For decades, oil and gas developers have obsessed over the possibility of oil below the refuge's coastal plain. (environmentamerica.org)
  • In 1980, Congress directed the U.S. Department of the Interior to research the coastal plain for potential oil and gas development, reserving for itself the decision whether to allow oil leasing and drilling. (environmentamerica.org)
  • The oil is thought to lie under the northern coastal plain - an area the refuge's Deputy manager Jimmy Fox says is the most biologically productive part of preserve. (cnn.com)
  • No one really knows how much oil the coastal plain might contain - no one has ever actually drilled there. (cnn.com)
  • We know now," says McIntyre, "that birds from the central region of the state will wander a lot farther than we thought they would and will summer on the coastal plain. (nwf.org)
  • It's only natural that bird researchers also flock to the Arctic coastal plain, whether they, like McIntyre, are figuratively present as they use computers to track transmitter-bearing birds or are on the ground coping with hordes of mosquitoes as they count birds in intensive surveys. (nwf.org)
  • On the north side of the Brooks Range, the coastal plain-often called the North Slope-can still be frozen in winter when the south side is already experiencing spring. (nwf.org)
  • During the breeding season, the Christmas Sandpiper migrates to the Arctic tundra, where they build their nests on the ground. (articleinsider.com)
  • Breeding along a narrow band of arctic and subarctic coastal tundra worldwide, this owl migrates in the winter, in our covered area, into the interior plains of Canada and the northern US. (owling.com)
  • The snowy owl, native to the arctic tundra of Canada, Greenland and Eurasia, has being spotted in coastal areas of North Carolina. (publicradioeast.org)
  • ARCTIC BREEDER: Easy to miss in the tundra, a semipalmated plover (left) nests among flowers of bog laurel and mountain aven. (nwf.org)
  • Their Arctic breeding grounds are on low-lying, wet, coastal tundra. (birdweb.org)
  • At winter's end, snow geese fly north to their breeding grounds on the Arctic tundra. (nationalgeographic.com)
  • These birds undertake long-distance journeys, traveling thousands of kilometers between their breeding grounds in the Arctic tundra and their wintering grounds in coastal areas. (articleinsider.com)
  • The Bering Strait and associated islands is a critical area for marine life migrating to and from summering grounds in the Chukchi Sea and elsewhere in the Arctic Ocean. (earthdive.com)
  • As many as 300,000 snow geese feed on the coastal tundra in the fall before flying on to their wintering grounds, in California's Central Valley and other western states. (nwf.org)
  • The Arctic coastal tundra is an ecoregion of the far north of North America, an important breeding ground for a great deal of wildlife. (wikipedia.org)
  • For example, the American Wigeon is known for its long-distance migrations, while the Canvasback prefers to breed in northern parts of North America and migrate to coastal areas. (travellingbirder.com)
  • The Christmas Sandpiper is primarily found in the coastal regions of North America, particularly during the winter months. (articleinsider.com)
  • Both JCV and SSHV have been identified nnual temperatures in the circumpolar Arctic as causes of arbovirus-associated neurologic diseases are rising at 2-3 times the global average, re- in North America ( 7 ). (cdc.gov)
  • An unusual number of arctic birds called dovekies are turning up along the coast often injured and malnourished. (publicradioeast.org)
  • These birds seek out coastal estuaries, mudflats, and sandy beaches, where they can find an abundance of invertebrates and small crustaceans. (articleinsider.com)
  • The strength of tundra productivity trends over the 1982-2008 period, as measured by the annual maximum Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (MaxNDVI) and time integrated NDVI (TI-NDVI), have generally increased throughout the Arctic but vary in strength regionally. (arcus.org)
  • In the wild Snowy Owls are found in coastal areas, grasslands and tundra all around the Arctic. (drusillas.co.uk)
  • The National Park Service (NPS) stewards roughly 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) of coastal landforms in Northwest Alaska ( Figure 1 ). (nps.gov)
  • Coastal landforms include fjords and bays. (cumorah.com)
  • Climate change affects the Arctic more than any other region, resulting in evolving weather, vanishing sea ice and altered biochemical cycling, which may increase biotic exposure to chemical pollution. (bvsalud.org)
  • Alaska natives have called this rugged region of frozen tundra home for generations, yet modern conveniences such as sewage lines and grocery stores are not found in many areas this far north. (usgs.gov)
  • This often frozen tundra is a place more biologically rich and diverse than most of us can imagine possible. (environmentamerica.org)
  • The polar bear hunts for seals on the frozen edge of the sea and fish such as Arctic cod, flatfish, and smelt are abundant. (earthdive.com)
  • Millions of waterbirds migrate each year along the East Atlantic Flyway, spanning an area from the Russian Arctic to South Africa. (wetlands.org)
  • The aquarium takes you through many different fish habitats, including fresh water, salt water, swamps, coastal and deep ocean. (outdoorlife.com)
  • Along the migratory flyway between the Russian Arctic and West Africa we are protecting wetlands and waterbirds. (wetlands.org)
  • It is 600 miles long by 200 miles wide across the entire Alaskan Arctic. (funtrivia.com)
  • They prefer open tundra and marshy areas with ample food resources and minimal disturbance. (articleinsider.com)
  • We tested thermoregulatory impacts of these changes on the most abundant Arctic seabird, the little auk (Alle alle). (bvsalud.org)
  • Here I worked with a creek flowing through the autumn tundra in Denali National Park, Alaska. (digital-photography-school.com)
  • Understanding the rates and causes of coastal change in Alaska is needed to identify and mitigate hazards that might affect people and animals that call Alaska home. (usgs.gov)
  • It is one of the most important wintering areas for migratory waterbirds from the temperate and Arctic zones of Europe, but it is also important for intra-African migrants. (wetlands.org)
  • It is among the most valuable areas for Arctic fauna including seabirds, waterfowl, waders and marine mammals. (wetlands.org)
  • Norway could have been colder, but for the moderating effects of the North Atlantic and Norwegian ocean currents raising the air temperature of the coastal areas. (worldatlas.com)
  • Their legs are relatively long and slender, allowing them to navigate the wetlands and coastal areas with great agility. (articleinsider.com)
  • In her thesis, Sofia Hjalmarsson has studied the carbon system in two different geographical areas: partly in the Baltic Sea, the Kattegat and the Skagerrak, and partly in the coastal waters north of Siberia (the Laptev Sea, the East Siberian Sea and the Chukchi Sea). (phys.org)
  • The terrestrial portion of this area includes polar desert (the word "Svalbard" in fact means "cold desert"), as well as productive tundra areas. (earthdive.com)
  • Protections are proposed for more than 20,000 square miles (51,800 square kilometers) of land in the reserve in the western Arctic. (wtop.com)
  • Snowy Owl is found around the world in northern tundra regions. (owling.com)
  • The Arctic coastal tundra in Northwest Russia, borders the Barents and Kara Seas. (wetlands.org)
  • To the west, high cliffs overlooking the coastal plain's largest river, the Colville, host one of the world's densest concentrations of nesting raptors, including peregrine falcons, rough-legged hawks and gyrfalcons. (nwf.org)
  • The coastal cities further south get to enjoy a warmer, more temperate climate with summer temperatures breaking 35C. (expatfocus.com)
  • Norway's beautiful mountains are under an even-more shiver-worthy Polar Tundra climate with lower degrees. (worldatlas.com)
  • they were photographed in coastal California. (ucr.edu)
  • The river water carries organic carbon from the tundra, and research from the University of Gothenburg shows that this adds a considerable amount of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere when it is degraded in the coastal waters. (phys.org)
  • These data quantify fluxes of environmentally important trace gases between the coastal tundra and atmosphere, including methyl halides, chloroform and methane. (ucar.edu)
  • This is an area of low, flat, boggy coastal plains. (wikipedia.org)
  • The camera looks westward along the coastal bluffs of Barter Island, located on Alaska's North Slope. (usgs.gov)
  • Fossils and sediments preserving a record of ancient flora and fauna during the terminal end of our last great Ice Age are being destroyed by powerful Earth processes along coastal peat bluffs. (nps.gov)
  • Redox effects on organic matter storage in coastal sediments during the Holocene: A biomarker/proxy perspective. (lu.se)
  • Evolving coastal character of a Baltic Sea inlet during the Holocene shoreline regression: impact on coastal zone hypoxia. (lu.se)
  • Ice-wedge formation causes the archetypal polygonal patterns seen in tundra across the Arctic landscape. (nature.com)
  • I relied heavily on a mid-range telephoto, reaching out with my lens to find the patterns in the tundra, the rolling storm, and the sweep of the river. (digital-photography-school.com)
  • According to research conducted by the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, if the Arctic tundra also melts, vast amounts of organic material will be carried by the rivers straight into the Arctic Ocean, resulting in additional emissions of carbon dioxide. (phys.org)
  • It is a memorable occasion when a Gyrfalcon is sighted on a coastal salt marsh or over open country inland. (borealbirds.org)
  • Arctic terns breed here, before traveling 36,000 km to winter in Antarctica. (earthdive.com)
  • They are covered from head to toe in thick white feathers, which not only provide them with much needed insulation but also help them to camouflage themselves against the snow tundra landscapes. (drusillas.co.uk)
  • Northern Canada is warming at 3 times the global and a 50%-60% increase in Arctic precipitation over rate. (cdc.gov)