Temperatures have risen by three degrees in 50 years, rainfall has significantly increased by more than 14 inches in some areas, and the snow season has decreased by two weeks over the last 20 years. That’s according to a new report from the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy.
Since 2020, the State of Alaska declared nearly three dozen weather or climate-related disasters. And about a third of those were declared federal disasters. ACCAP’s Climate Specialist Rick Thoman says there is just more variability in precipitation, temperature, and even wildfire.
The Upper Valley has seen its fair share of these weather and climate trends. Most notably is the Governor-declared state disaster for Talkeetna’s revetment and riverbank. Major flooding in 2012 brought initial attention to the issue. The flooding in 2023 caused severe erosion and Thoman says this is tied to increased precipitation.
July of this year was the wettest in recorded history. And five inches of rain fell over a two-day period in early August. It’s not just more rainfall overall, but more rain during each event. And now there is more of that rainfall in winter. Schools in the Mat-Su Valley switched to remote learning last week due to icy road conditions after a bout of freezing rain.
The snow season is about two weeks shorter, with melting beginning earlier in spring. But the increased ocean temperatures have fueled winter precipitation, which can lead to heavy snowfall, like what the southcentral region experienced earlier this year. Plows had a hard time keeping up and businesses closed for days.
Thoman says the wildfire season has gotten longer and the big seasons, meaning years where a lot of acreage is burned, are increasing. And it’s enough of a problem that the Mat-Su Borough now requires a burn permit beginning April 1st each year. According to the report about 2,500 square miles burn each year now. It was about half that until 2003. This year’s wildfire in the Montana Creek area took about 10 days to contain and needed about 200 around-the-clock personnel to fight the fire. It consumed about 170 acres.
The report also highlights the variability in salmon numbers, shrinking glaciers, and shorter ice season. As well as the largest sea bird die-off between 2015 and 2022. And the increase in ticks, especially non-native ticks since 2010.
There are few bright spots in the report, except that the growing season is lengthening, though that comes with its own challenges. Thoman says one bright spot is that the information is available now and we know where we are when it comes to climate change.
The report is available on the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy website.
