Dinosaurs in the Wrangell Mountains

Dinosaurs in the Wrangell Mountains By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]T[/fusion_dropcap]he more Tony Fiorillo explores Alaska, the more dinosaur tracks he finds on its lonely ridgetops. The latest examples are the stone footprints of two different dinosaurs near the tiny settlement of Chisana in the Wrangell Mountains. Fiorillo, a dinosaur hunter with the Museum of Nature and [...]

Mystery Wolf Didn’t Survive in Alaska

Mystery wolf didn't survive in Alaska By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]A[/fusion_dropcap]n Alaska wolf that disappeared about 12,000 years ago just made another appearance. No one will ever see this wolf, but scientists have found that it was different from Alaska’s wolves of today, and it was not like its Ice-Age contemporaries that lived in, among other [...]

How Many Glaciers Are There in Alaska?

How many glaciers are there in Alaska? There's no easy answer By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]N[/fusion_dropcap]ot long ago, a glaciologist wrote that the number of glaciers in Alaska "is estimated at (greater than) 100,000." That fuzzy number, perhaps written in passive voice for a reason, might be correct. But it depends upon how you count. Another [...]

The Number of Alaska Glaciers is Everchanging

The Number of Alaska Glaciers is Everchanging By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]A[/fusion_dropcap] glaciologist once wrote that the number of glaciers in Alaska "is estimated at (greater than) 100,000." That fuzzy number, perhaps written in passive voice for a reason, might be correct. But it depends upon how you count. Another glaciologist saw an example of the [...]

Why Was Interior Alaska Green During the Last Ice Age?

Why was interior Alaska green during the last ice age? By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]D[/fusion_dropcap]uring our planet's most recent cold period, a slab of ice smothered Manhattan. Canada looked like Antarctica but with no protruding mountains. When the last glacial maximum peaked about 20,000 years ago, most of the continent - from the Arctic Ocean to [...]

Moose flies a high-summer Alaska pest

Moose flies a high-summer Alaska pest By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]W[/fusion_dropcap]hile boating down the Yukon River during the hottest summer recorded in Alaska (1915, when Fort Yukon reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit), missionary Hudson Stuck wrote about the wildlife that most bothered his party. "With the failure of a little breeze and the overcasting of the sky, [...]

Fire on the mountain near the Yukon River

Fire on the mountain near the Yukon River By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]A[/fusion_dropcap] smoking mountain near the Yukon River not far from Eagle is, after further study, still a puzzle. People first noticed acrid smoke in September 2012. The mountain has been steaming ever since, even through the coldest days of winter. Scientists thought a likely [...]

Two tales of dynamic Alaska tundra

Two tales of dynamic Alaska tundra By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]A[/fusion_dropcap]s pungent eucalyptus trees soaked up inches of California rain, a few researchers inside San Francisco’s Moscone Center spoke of the treeless third of Alaska at the 2014 fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union. The annual gathering of Earth and space scientists attracted more than [...]

Glaciers no obstacle for Copper River and Northwestern Railway

Glaciers no obstacle for Copper River and Northwestern Railway By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]H[/fusion_dropcap]ome of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, Alaska has been the setting for a few epic engineering battles rendered against nature. The Million Dollar Bridge, standing almost intact on the lower Copper River, is a reminder of another improbable Alaska construction project. Completed in [...]

In Hawaii, Hints of a Giant Alaska Tsunami

In Hawaii, Hints of a Giant Alaska Tsunami By Ned Rozell [fusion_dropcap]C[/fusion_dropcap]lues from a crater-like sinkhole on the island of Kauai point back to a giant wave that came from Alaska at about the time European explorers were pushing west, seeing the Mississippi River for the first time. The Makauwahi Sinkhole on the southeast shore [...]