In Alaska, a Mystery Over Disappearing Whales – Undark

Beluga or white whale, Delphinapterus leucas. courtship (by Brian Gratwicke CC BY 2.0 via Flickr).

In the 1980s, Kotzebue Sound’s beluga population began to dwindle…Although some stocks are healthy, beluga numbers have fallen off in around a half-dozen regions over the last 50 years…Now, even after hunting has ceased in some places, stresses such as climate change, increased ship traffic, and chemical pollutants are a gathering storm that threatens to finish the job…

How sea level rise contributes to billions in extra damage during hurricanes – Yale Climate Connections

Storm Surge (by Scott Pena CC BY 2.0 via Flickr)

Had Ian hit a century ago, when sea levels were about a foot lower, the storm probably would have caused billions less in storm surge damage, judging by the results from two studies looking at storm surge damage from 2012’s Hurricane Sandy in New York. Taken together, the study results suggest that rising seas left a huge portion of U.S. coastal infrastructure – much of it built during the 20th century – vulnerable to storm surges.

Small increases in storm surge can cause huge impacts…

Teaching Children About Climate Change – the New York Times

Cover Art: THE COQUÍES STILL SING: A Story of Home, Hope, and Rebuilding, illustration by Krystal Quiles (courtesy of macmilllan books).

Two new picture books and a novel for young readers place children at the center of climate calamity. Fittingly, they are stories of homes under threat; home, after all, is the thing climate change stalks, be it a house, a community or a livable planet. Each book offers its own lessons on how to cope with life under the monster we’ve created. The novel even shows how kids can help slay it…

Six Art Installations Making Sea Level Rise Visible – Metropolis

Waterlicht Museumplein Amsterdam by Daan Roosegaarde (Studio Roosegaarde CC BY-NC 2.0 via Flickr).

Around the globe, artists are reckoning with climate change and finding new ways to render the impacts of rising seas legible…

“Quite often on the news you’ll see these graphs showing sea level rise and flooding levels, and it can be quite hard to grasp the magnitude of it all,” says architect Andre Kong. “With something that devastating, how can you understand what it actually looks like and what it actually means?

New Research Shows People, Wildlife, and Marine Environment Benefit When Island-Ocean Connections are Restored – SCRIPPS

Floreana Island (by eatswords CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr).

“By applying this knowledge to islands worldwide, we can understand the marine benefits of island restoration projects and maximize returns for our conservation management investments for people, wildlife, and the planet,” said Stuart A. Sandin, PhD, lead co-author of the perspective and a marine ecologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego…

‘Sand is like gold.’ The pricey race to restore Florida beaches before the next hurricane – KOAM News Now

Miami Beach Lifeguard Towers Collage (by Anthony Quintano CC BY 2.0 via Flickr).

For decades, Florida has been restoring its beaches by dredging or trucking in more sand. But the practice is becoming more challenging — and expensive, thanks to the rising cost of beach-quality sand. Offshore sand deposits, especially on Florida’s southeast coast, are dwindling after decades of repeated beach restoration projects. As local governments squabble over the right to use the remaining sand, its price is rising…