Baked Alaska: Heat Wave In The Last Frontier

Records tumble as Alaska’s historic heat wave rolls on. Anchorage is in the longest stretch of 80-plus-degree temperatures the city has ever seen. https://t.co/MtOHrNm4me pic.twitter.com/TKyyraJSUA

— Anchorage Daily News (@adndotcom) July 9, 2019

Anchorage, Alaska (88 F) is currently warmer than Miami, Florida (85 F). Heat to continue across much of Alaska into next week: https://t.co/Xj2jTk2Vaj pic.twitter.com/r0hprQpzJL

— Breaking Weather by AccuWeather (@breakingweather) July 5, 2019

Temperatures in Anchorage, Alaska, climbed to 90 degrees on Thursday — breaking the all-time heat record for the city. https://t.co/y81dGxrnyT

— NPR (@NPR) July 6, 2019

So what kind if impact will these soaring temperatures have on a state not used to such intense summer conditions? The Hill has more on the environmental concerns:

In an added hardship, disappearing ice cuts off access to traditional hunting and fishing grounds, and the warming ocean is changing where fish and marine mammals can be found. This has real nutritional consequences in a land where many residents still rely on subsistence hunting and fishing. Commercial crab, cod and pollock fleets also wrestle with the changes.

Warming in the Arctic may also be impacting global weather, as Scientific American described in 2018. Specifically, Arctic warming is changing the global temperature gradient, possibly contributing to greater meanders in the jet stream. This summer, such meanders have played a role in anotherround of record-setting heat in Europe and a recent Russian hot spell that sent Arctic temperatures rocketing to 84 degrees. Thoman says these possible global implications of Arctic warming are now an area of “active research.”

Keep cool, Alaskans.