美国国家公共电台 NPR While The Eastern U.S. Freezes, It's Too Warm In Alaska

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

It is too warm in rural Alaska. In the state's southwestern region, high temperatures of 10 to 20 degrees above average are affecting everything from recreation to survival¹. From member station KYUK in Bethel, Anna Rose MacArthur reports.

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ANNA ROSE MACARTHUR, BYLINE²: Last weekend, Maurice Andrews won the Kuskokwim River’s first sled dog race of the season.

MAURICE ANDREWS: It felt awesome³, man. Finally. Finally good to be out.

MACARTHUR: The race had been scheduled to happen two weeks before, but warm weather just above freezing made the trails unsafe. The entire race usually runs 35 miles up the frozen⁴ river, but this time it had to run over land. That's because, in some areas, the river ice is only inches thick, where in past years, it was feet. In other places, there's open water. This is a problem in a region with no roads connecting one village to another and where locals refer to the river as an ice highway. Mark Leary has measured the river ice for decades as a volunteer in the village and submits the data to the National Weather Service. He's seeing more open holes and bigger open holes than ever before.

MARK LEARY: We're way behind. We're way behind on winter. I don't know if we've ever seen anything like this.

MACARTHUR: Sixty miles away in the village of Quinhagak, hunting, trapping and fishing grounds lay to the north across the river, but only inches of ice have formed on it. For Ferdinand Cleveland Jr., that means his family can't drive their snowmobile across the river to set their blackfish trap.

FERDINAND CLEVELAND JR.: They usually pick up their trap, like, two or three times a week.

MACARTHUR: Cleveland also can't hunt wolves and wolverines right now to sell their pelts⁵ like he normally would. Less hunting and trapping means less money and more expensive trips to the grocery store. In the worst cases, the river's open water is fatal. Two people died last month when their snowmobiles fell through open holes. Volunteers are working to mark the open holes by putting small trees next to them with blue reflectors. People are hoping it gets colder before winter is over. For NPR News, I'm Anna Rose MacArthur in Bethel, Alaska.

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