Orange rivers and melting glaciers: federal report shows rapid change in the Arctic

Hundreds of Arctic rivers and streams are turning bright red-orange, not from chemical pollution, but from naturally occurring iron spilling from long-frozen ground as temperatures warm. The "rusting rivers" phenomenon, which has been documented across the Brooks Range in northern Alaska, offers a vivid example of the effects of climate change in a region that is warming faster than the global average.

The finding was reported in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's annual Arctic Report Card, released Tuesday. NOAA has released the report for 20 years as a way to track rapid changes in the northernmost part of the planet.

Those decades have seen rapid environmental change in the region. The most recent year was the warmest and wettest in the Arctic's recorded history, said Matthew Druckenmiller,  a senior scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, in Boulder, Colorado, and lead editor of this year's report card. He said Arctic warming influences global sea-level rise, weather patterns, and commercial fisheries.

The Arctic "is really the refrigerator for the planet," said Druckenmiller. "When the Arctic thaws and warms, it's having an impact on the global climate."

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