{"id":8370,"date":"2026-04-11T13:57:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T13:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/11\/snowmachine-expedition-studies-how-climate-change-is-reshaping-alaskas-coastline-knom-radio-mission\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T13:57:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T13:57:13","slug":"snowmachine-expedition-studies-how-climate-change-is-reshaping-alaskas-coastline-knom-radio-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/11\/snowmachine-expedition-studies-how-climate-change-is-reshaping-alaskas-coastline-knom-radio-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"Snowmachine expedition studies how climate change is reshaping Alaska\u2019s coastline – KNOM Radio Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"

780 AM
96.1 FM
view all news<\/a>
780 AM | 96.1 FM
view all news<\/a>
Two University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers completed a 1,986-mile journey along Alaska’s western coastline by snowmachine on Thursday. The expedition studied how the Arctic is changing and how those changes are reshaping life in coastal communities.\u00a0<\/span>
Inside a warm cabin in Nome, about halfway through their journey from Bethel to Utqia\u0121vik, Benjamin Jones was preparing for the next leg of a research expedition called <\/span>COAST-X 2026<\/span><\/a>. Outside, two snowmachine sleds were packed with about a week’s worth of food and gallons of fuel.\u00a0<\/span>
\u201cTrail food for later,\u201d Jones said as he put Kirkland pizzas in the oven. \u201cWe’ll probably cook it, then just roll it up like a calzone and put it in our pocket. Just something to snack on on the road.\u201d<\/span>
Jones is a research professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Institute of Northern Engineering. He estimates that in more than two decades, he has logged up to 20,000 miles by snowmachine. But this trip, at 1,986 miles, is the longest.<\/span>
He and fellow UAF Institute of Northern Engineering researcher Phillip Wilson were about halfway into a roughly three-week journey, averaging about 120 miles a day. Wilson g<\/span>raduated from UAF with a geology degree in 2022 and began working with Jones two years ago. <\/span>
\u201cThis is how all research used to be, or like expeditions,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cYou know, you could not just fly somewhere with a helicopter. And especially at UAF, I think it is important there’s kind of a culture of doing expeditions like this.”\u00a0<\/span>
The pair said they finalized plans for this expedition about a year ago. It is a collaboration with UAF\u2019s <\/span>ACTION Project<\/span><\/a>, which aims to address the science of a changing Arctic environment.\u00a0<\/span>
The Arctic is warming <\/span>about four times faster<\/span><\/a> than the rest of the world. There are commonalities in the coastal hazards communities in Alaska are experiencing due to climate change, such as erosion, storm flooding and permafrost thaw.\u00a0<\/span>
Yet, Wilson said the local impact of those changes and the corresponding solutions are all unique. The goal of this trip was to learn what the problems are and what type of scientific research could help.\u00a0<\/span>
\u201cSo many times in science, people come from out of state, or even from Fairbanks, which is basically like another country,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cYou show up somewhere and don’t talk to anyone locally, do your project, and then leave. And so, to kind of switch that.\u201d<\/span>
They called this community-centric research. During the trip, the team visited schools and hosted potlucks in villages along the route. They also connected with people informally while filling up gas and collecting supplies.\u00a0<\/span>
For example, Wilson said they heard concerns from people in the northern Yukon Delta village of Kotlik about coastal flooding because the village lacks an evacuation road.\u00a0<\/span>
\u201cThey are right on the coast, so it’s flooded there a lot,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cSo if they have a flood, there’s nowhere to go, and that’s not the same as other places. So similar issues and similar overall things, but different solutions and different things they are interested in in each spot.\u201d<\/span>
The expedition came just months after ex-typhoon Halong hit the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta this fall, washing away infrastructure and devastating many communities with high water and severe wind. Typhoon Merbok also hit the Bering Sea region a little over two years ago.<\/span>
Jones said remnants of those storms are still visible in the driftwood lines marking high water and in coastal bluff and riverbank erosion, and the stories are fresh on people’s minds.\u00a0<\/span>
\u201cIt makes the conversations, unfortunately, really easy,\u201d Jones said. \u201cBecause it’s a bad situation, these big fall storms that are happening more recently.\u201d<\/span>
Climate change impacts have led <\/span>several villages <\/span><\/a>in western Alaska, including <\/span>Shishmaref <\/span><\/a>on the Seward Peninsula, to seek full relocation. Jones said his team would not advise communities on whether or not to move.\u00a0<\/span>
\u201cBut, what we can do is collect data,\u201d Jones said. \u201cTo help figure out how much effort it might be to stay and shelter in place. Or if you do want to move to a new location, we can start studying that area, and then look at the permafrost properties, and reconstruct the erosion and the flooding history.\u201d<\/span>
The pair arrived in Utqia\u0121vik after 19 days on the trail.\u00a0 From there, they will head back to Fairbanks to process their data and people’s stories. Jones said he hopes they will be back next year to repeat the route and continue the conversations they started.\u00a0<\/span>
Consider supporting our work by becoming a one-time or recurring donor.
We acknowledge that KNOM Radio Mission is located on the customary lands of Indigenous peoples.
Based in the Bering Strait region, KNOM broadcasts throughout the homelands of the Inupiaq, Siberian Yupik, Cup\u2019ik and Yup\u2019ik peoples.
About KNOM<\/a>
Schedule<\/a>
News<\/a>
Donate to KNOM<\/a>
Weather<\/a>
Programs<\/a>
Job Openings<\/a>
Contact Us<\/a>
Nome:
107 West 3rd Avenue
Nome, Alaska 99762, US
(907) 443-5221<\/a><\/span>
PO Box 988, Nome, AK 99762
Anchorage:
701 Sesame St Unit 200
Anchorage, AK – Alaska 99503, US
(907) 868-1200<\/a><\/span>
PO Box 190649, Anchorage, AK 99519<\/p>\n