Temperatures in Alaska have risen 3 degrees Fahrenheit (1.7 °C) since the late 1970s, warming the state more than twice as rapidly as the rest of the United States. Temperatures in Alaska are expected to climb another 4 to 8 degrees Fahrenheit (2.2–4.4 °C) by the end of the century in the southern portions of the state, and 12 to 16+ °F (6.7 to 8.9+ °C) degrees in the north (Grey et al. 2018).

These temperature changes will mean the continuing melting of glaciers and sea ice along with the thawing of permafrost. Alaskan glaciers are currently losing about 16 cubic miles of ice per year, or around 15 trillion gallons of meltwater, enough to fill 23 million Olympic-sized pools. Columbia Glacier (below) has lost 50 percent of its ice in the last 35 years.