Have you ever wondered about how sea ice and ocean temperatures are changing, marine debris in the Bering Strait, the spread of beavers into northwest Alaska, “rusting rivers” or community-based observations of Bering Sea salmon? For 20 years, the Arctic Report Card, supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has delivered timely and accurate information on the Alaska and Arctic environment that takes raw observations and makes them understandable to anyone interested in what’s happening across the top of the world.
The rapidly changing Arctic environment brings challenges and opportunities to Alaska communities, our state and the United States, including food security and cultural continuity, commercial sustainability and development options, and national energy and security concerns. Nearly 20 percent of the United States’ land area is in Alaska, and Alaska is part of the much larger Arctic. But on August 10, 2026, as reported bythe Alaska Beacon, NOAA ended support of the long-running Arctic Report Card.
Since 2006, theArctic Report Card, supported by NOAA, has delivered timely and accurate information on the Alaska and Arctic environment in formats from plain language essays to a professional video to social media bites. Alaskans use the Arctic Report Card for many reasons, because it is a trusted, understandable and vetted source of environmental information and on-the-ground impacts across the Arctic. Starting in 2019, the Report Card has included perspectives rooted in the lived experiences and cultural knowledge of Indigenous peoples in Alaska and elsewhere in the Arctic. These are not models or projections or policy. The essays in the Report Card describe what’s happened in our part of the world.
Every autumn more than 100 authors from a dozen or more countries come together, volunteering their time and expertise to create a report, not for other specialists or academic journals, but for anyone who needs timely and accurate information about what’s happening in the Arctic environment. While written for non-specialists, the Arctic Report Card maintains strict scientific integrity through the peer-review process. That is coordinated by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, and neither Report Card editors nor authors have any say in reviewer selection, nor do they know who provides reviews.
Professional societies and international organizations around the world issue several annual reports summarizing yearly weather and climate conditions, but not all include the Arctic; all are released months after the fact and are largely or entirely focused on atmosphere and ocean conditions. The Arctic Report Card is unique in providing both timeliness of the information and the wide range of topics and is the only report that provides broad review of the climate and ecosystems of the Arctic.
The loss of NOAA’s support for the Arctic Report Card does not mean that observations go away, or that change stops. But without the Arctic Report Card, the broad array of information will be harder for non-specialists to find and interpret. I work as an Alaska climate specialist, but as a user of the Arctic Report Card for 20 years and an editor since 2020, I have learned so much about topics outside of my specialty. Over the years, I’ve heard similar comments from Alaskans across the state.
The Arctic Report Card editorial team, dedicated authors and supporters are working hard to keep timely, accurate and accessible Arctic environmental observations available to everyone who relies on this annual report. However, the break in continuity with the first 20 reports and the elaborate interface developed during that time to make this information readily available will make it harder for Alaskans to find what they need in this time of rapid change.
Rick Thoman works as a Climate Specialist with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Preparedness at the International Arctic Research Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks. The views expressed are solely the author’s and do not constitute the university’s official position.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.