Juneau Research Paper

The location I chose to research was Juneau, Alaska. Juneau is located in the north-central portion of the Alaska panhandle and is only accessible by air or sea. Juneau is 3,250 square miles and is 80% land and 20% water. The present climate of Juneau is a coastal rainforest climate, which is any location in the mid-latitudes that receives 50 inches of rainfall a year. The mean annual temperature of Juneau is 42 degrees Fahrenheit. The coldest month is January with an average temperature of 26 degrees Fahrenheit, and the warmest month is July with an average temperature of 57 degrees Fahrenheit. Juneau’s annual precipitation is 58 inches peaking in October with an average of 8 inches. The annual snowfall in Juneau is 93 inches, which mainly

These winds are known as the Taku Winds. Juneau is also located in the mid-latitudes in terms of the General Circulation of the Earth.

Juneau’s land cover is very interesting. First, Juneau has a city land cover, which consists of streets and buildings, that lies in the central area of Juneau but is on the west coast of Juneau. This city land cover is actually on the coast of the Gastineau channel. Most of inland Juneau is covered in mountainous areas. Lastly, in the northern coast of Juneau lies the Juneau Icefeild. The Juneau Icefield is the source to many glaciers in Juneau including the Mendenhall glacier and the Taku glaceier. Juneau is surrounded by a few large bodies of water such as the Gastineau channel, the Favorite channel and a few other bays and inlets. This affects the climate of Juneau because water has a very high specific heat, which means that it takes a lot of energy to raise the temperature one degree. Due to being on the coast of a large body of water, the temperature of Juneau doesn’t vary much because the water near or surrounding the city takes longer to heat up and longer to cool down than land masses, so cities near water tend to have less

The effects on these resources are changes in the temporal and spatial extent of permafrost, snow cover, glaciers, and lake ice cover. For example, glaciers in Glacier Bay National Park, West of Juneau, have retreated 60 miles and lost nearly 1 mile in thickness. “As a result, less than 30% of Glacier Bay National Park is now covered by glaciers.” Another place experiencing the effects of climate change in Juneau is the Juneau Icefield, which is the 5th largest icefield in the Western Hemisphere and the source of the Mendenhall glacier and 140 other glaciers. Due to warming temperatures, the Juneau Icefield, which covers 1,500 square miles, is in danger of disappearing. “By the end of this century, people will most likely not be able to see the Mendenhall Glacier anymore from the visitor center,” said Regine Hock, one of the authors on a paper published in the Journal of Glaciology. If the warming temperatures continue their trend, the reasearchers at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks predict that 60