Friday, 27 January 2012 15:07 Written by Jill Burke, Alaska Dispatch

The Renda off the coast of Nome on Monday, January 16. Photo by Sue Greenly. Alaska Dispatch.

The Russian fuel tanker Renda that with help of a U.S. Coast Guard ice-breaking cutter carved its way to Nome through hundreds of miles of sea ice is once again in the grip of the Bering Sea's deep freeze.

The ships left Nome early Saturday morning, facing a journey of about 360 miles southward through the ice before reaching open water.

By Thursday they were 230 miles south of Nome, but had only ventured halfway through the ice, according to Vitus Marine, the Alaskan shipping company that hired Renda to bring the fuel to a buyer in Nome.

Friday, 27 January 2012 10:27 Written by CBC News

Photo: CBC.ca

The caribou herd on Southampton Island, which was once wiped out in the 1950s, may face extinction once again.

Mitch Campbell, a wildlife biologist with the Government of Nunavut, a territory in Canada's eastern Arctic, says disease and overhunting are threatening the herd on the island at the mouth of Hudson Bay.

He said a reproductive disease called brucellosis infected the island herd in 2000.

Friday, 27 January 2012 13:07 Written by Alex DeMarban, Alaska Dispatch.

Shell's Arctic oil spill response animated video Courtesy: Shell Oil Co. Alaska Dispatch.

Arctic frontiers are opening to development but oil-spill infrastructure is still limited in many regions. 

Now, some of the world's biggest oil companies are joining forces in a multi-million-dollar effort to improve preparedness and response, according to Upstream Online.

Companies such as BP, Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell are pitching in $2.4 million each to develop spill-response technology, conduct controlled oil-release tests and improve response capability in case of an accident.

Friday, 27 January 2012 09:36 Written by Doug O'Harra, Alaska Dispatch

The November storm bearing down on Alaska is seen in this infrared imagery on November 8, 2011 at 1400z. Satellite image from The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

That "extra-tropical" cyclone that walloped Alaska's Bering Sea coast with hurricane-force winds and damaging storm surge last November was one of the most astounding weather events of 2011 inside the United States and across the globe, according to a new report posted by the National Climate Data Center.

The annual analysis of the highs, lows, rains and snows during the calendar year found Alaska posting generally average temperatures and precipitation, while parts of the Lower 48 experienced record rainfall, deadly tornado outbreaks and blistering heat.