The University of Colorado-Boulder recently published a new study that looks at the impacts of climate change on rivers in Alaska. The study showed as temperatures rise, frozen rivers thaw earlier and streamflows get much higher in the spring and fall.
Dylan Blaskey, a PhD student at CU-Boulder and lead author of the study, says the study was spurred by local interest.
"We work with an indigenous Advisory Council and we hosted a summit where we talked about that issue, as well as others in December of last year," said Blaskey. "And that's where we brought together Western scientists with Indigenous community members across Alaska.
According to Blaskey, the changes affecting the rivers are largely due to warming air temperatures.
Ben Meyer, an environmental scientist with the Kenai River Watershed Project, said these changes could have dramatic impacts on Alaska’s salmon fishery.
“The effects that changing hydrological regimes can have on salmon life cycles are complex and difficult to predict," said Meyer.
A particular concern for Meyer is increasing river flows—these have been proven to directly affect the success of a spawning season.
“The effects that changing hydrological regimes can have on salmon life cycles are complex and difficult to predict,” Meyer said.
Many Alaska native communities depend on subsistence fisheries for food security. The Kenai River is a key spawning ground for the salmon fishery. And the data shows that that river, and many others in the state, will keep getting warmer. CU-Boulder researchers also found that earlier snowmelt and thawing permafrost compound the program. Winters in Alaska are about 4 degrees Celsius warmer year-round than in 1950.