Biologists struggle to single out a leading cause of the caribou population’s decline. Increased wolf predation, changed migration patterns and climate warming affecting food sources can all influence the herd. “It’s going to be another rough winter again this year without caribou,” Selawik resident Norma Ballot said.

In Utqiaġvik, where the coast is eroding at some of the fastest rates in the nation, storms, flooding and thawing permafrost damage houses, roads and cultural sites. Ice forms later each year and storms are becoming longer and more severe.

The second-worst flood on record in the Interior Alaska community of Manley Hot Springs began to recede on Sunday, but dozens of residents were displaced and cut off from power. Flooding is also reported in Sleetmute, Red Devil and Georgetown on the Kuskokwim River and Circle on the Yukon River.

Extremely high winds blew over Northwest Alaska this weekend, pushing away ice cover and cutting power in some communities. The storm is expected to be 100 miles west of Utqiagvik by 3 a.m. on Tuesday morning and continue to weaken and drift north after that.

“Right now the people who have dogs in their yards are very concerned. This is happening at night when it’s dark, so everybody is on edge.” - Tanana First Chief

Forecasters say they are expecting significant coastal erosion from Utqiagvik to Unalakleet from the second severe-weather event to hit the region in three weeks.

A Wales resident shot and killed the bear. With the loss of sea ice and the ocean staying open later in the year, polar bears have been spending more time on land, which increases the chance of human encounters.

One of the largest caribou herds in Alaska is shrinking, prompting hunters and conservationists to consider recommending hunting restrictions.

This early in spring, the season usually only starts, but the weather patterns have been changing, and so has been the harvest time, Donovan said.

The sewage pipes are protected from low temperatures with a heating system that runs on diesel. Throughout December and into January, several communities in the North Slope and Northwest Arctic have been scrambling for diesel, as well as gas and heating oil, essential to thaw pipes, heat homes and run snowmachines.

With cold air, light winds, and clear skies, Kotzebue weather dropped to 44 degrees below zero on Jan. 19 - the lowest temperature in nearly 10 years. The low temperature was followed by a late evening high of 6 above zero. The only greater calendar day increase in the city happened on Feb 18, 2009.

With relatively calm summer weather, an Utqiagvik crew landed at least 11 beluga whales this season, Wainwright was lucky to caught 50, and Kotzebue Sound saw the second-highest harvest in more than a decade, according to local hunters.

Smoke from dozens of active wildfires in Southwest Alaska moved across a large portion of the state on Sunday, worsening the visibility and air quality in several regions, including around Anchorage and Southcentral. The haze in the Anchorage area was expected to ease somewhat early in the week.

Because of the changeable weather an ice crust arose on the snow and reindeer could not get food on their own. Reindeer herders fed the main herd with compound feed. The dead reindeer, most likely, have strayed from the main herd.