Climate News Network- Tim Radford, July 26,2013

Magenta-flowered fireweed dominates a scene once covered in black spruce Alaska’s Yukon Flats
Image courtesy of Feng Sheng Hu of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Some recent fires in the forests of Alaska have been the worst for 10,000 years, researchers say – and they could happen elsewhere in this warming world.

LONDON, 26 July – There have always been fires in the cold forests of Alaska. Periods of burning are part of the ecological regime, and fires return to black spruce stands of the Yukon Flats at intervals of tens to hundreds of years.

But recent evidence suggests that fire is about to come back with a vengeance – or, in the language of science, “a transition to a unique regime of unprecedented fire activity”.

Read More:

Volcanodiscovery-June 17,2013

The eruption continues at low levels. Recent satellite images show very high elevated surface temperatures at the intracaldera cinder cone consistent with continued effusion of lava. No plumes have been observed in satellite images nor reported by pilots or local observers. (AVO)

Read More: http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/veniaminof/news.html

The Extinction Protocol -June11,20113

A weak eruptive activity has started from the volcano. Since last night, weak ash emissions have appeared from the central cone of the caldera of the volcano. The new activity is accompanied by a persistent steam plume and increasing volcanic tremor. So far there seem to be no lava flows or other significant eruptive processes. The new ash emissions are very diluted and reach about 200-300 m height. They were first observed on the Aviation camera of Perryville from last night at around 17-18h local time. AVO who has not yet reported about the ash confirmed to Blog Culture Volcan that the plume indeed contains very small amounts of ash, which pose no problems to aviation (for now). The volcano last erupted in 2008. –Volcano Discovery

Read More: http://theextinctionprotocol.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/61-mount-veniaminof-volcano-erupts-in-alaska/

Weather.com - 6/4/13, Associated Press

Beck Oskin, OurAmazingPlanet Saff Writer-May 31 2013

One of the newest volcanic vents discovered in Southeast Alaska is an underwater volcanic cone in Behm Canal near New Eddystone rock.
CREDIT: James Baichtal, U.S. Forest Service

In Alaska, scores of volcanoes and strange lava flows have escaped scrutiny for decades, shrouded by lush forests and hidden under bobbing coastlines.

In the past three years, 12 new volcanoes have been discovered in Southeast Alaska, and 25 known volcanic vents and lava flows re-evaluated, thanks to dogged work by geologists with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Forest Service. Sprinkled across hundreds of islands and fjords, most of the volcanic piles are tiny cones compared to the super-duper stratovolcanoes that parade off to the west, in the Aleutian Range.