Heat records tumble as Alaska bakes, burns SMH, August 19, 2013 Alaska residents have been enjoying an unusually warm, sunny summer, but the pleasant weather has come at a cost: choking smoke from an extended wildfire season, flooding rivers due to fast-melting snow and glacial ice, and fish covered in algae.
Wildfires have burned 1.25 million acres (500,000 hectares) across Alaska this summer, according to the state’s fire-management center, the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center. Seventy fires were active on Friday, including a 57,870-acre (23,400-hectare) blaze near Delta Junction, about 95 miles (153 km) southeast of Fairbanks.
The fire season usually winds down in late June or early July, but not this year, said Jim Schwarber, a spokesman for the centre……
Heat brings more problems than just wildfires, Thoman and other experts said. Hot and dry conditions are stunting spruce tree growth in interior Alaska, and adding to stress for nearly all species of trees in the northern forest, he said.
Ocean fish have been found covered with algae, possibly a result of hotter sea-surface temperatures, Thoman said. Streams and rivers fed by glaciers and snowpack have been gorged by meltwater, causing sporadic flooding, while rain-fed waterways in parched areas have been running dry, he said. http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/heat-records-tumble-as-alaska-bakes-burns-20130819-2s5oi.html#ixzz2cYqMCssq
