About ACCAP

• Our Mission
• Our Approach
• Our Focus
• Building Partnerships
• Meeting Climate Information Needs
• How You Can Get Involved
• Support

Image from John Walsh

Our Mission

The mission of ACCAP is to:

• Assess the socio-economic and biophysical impacts of climate variability in Alaska
• Make this information available to local and regional decision-makers
• Improve the ability of Alaskans to adapt to a changing climate

Our Approach

The ACCAP aims to:

• Create research partnerships to meet information needs
• Integrate science and policy for more informed decision-making
• Promote continuing feedback between information users and scientists

Our Focus

Photo from Canadian Coast Guard

Climate change is already impacting the seasons in the North. These changes are affecting the health, lives, and livelihoods of Alaskans as well as the companies who do business in Alaska.

Our efforts currently focus on climate impacts on Alaska's transportation sector and involve three pilot projects:

• Tundra Lakes: Terrestrial water balance affecting tundra travel & access to resources (Daniel White, PI)
• Interior Land Use and Subsistence: The Synergistic Effects of Climate Change and Land Use in the Upper Yukon River Watershed (Craig Gerlach, PI)
• Sea Ice: Sea ice conditions affecting Alaskan coastal communities, marine ecosystems and offshore transportation (John Walsh and Hajo Eicken, PIs)

Over time, we envision expanding the network to include wildfire, ecosystem services and other infrastructure issues.

Building Partnerships

Photo from Daniel White

We aim to establish partnerships between:

• Scientists and engineers
• State and local planners, policy-makers and governments
• Transportation, natural resource and land management agencies
• Native non-profit organizations and Alaska Native tribes
• Industry
• Non-governmental organizations
• Anyone whose decision-making is influenced by climate-related events.

Meeting Climate Information Needs

We aim to provide timely and understandable information on topics such as:

• Seasonal freeze and thaw dates
• Permafrost depth and extent
• Water availability and quality
• The wildfire regime, including increases in the extent and intensity of wildfires
• Sea and shore-fast ice extent and seasonality

How You Can Get Involved

Are you interested in learning more about ACCAP or participating in the research and partnership network?

For more information contact: ACCAP Coordinator Sarah Trainor, fnsft@uaf.edu, (907) 474-7878 or one of the ACCAP Principal Investigators.

Support

ACCAP was established in 2006 with core funding from the Climate Program Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). ACCAP is one of a group of Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) programs nation-wide.