Recent Events

Recurring Glacial Outbursts in Juneau Cause Destructive Floods

On Wednesday morning, Juneau, Alaska was hit by a flood that resulted from the release of water and snowmelt at Mendenhall Glacier. The flood proved damaging, seeping through flood barriers, covering roads, and presenting a danger for homes near the Mendenhall River—this subsequently prompted evacuation warnings in parts of Juneau. While glacial floodwaters are relatively common in Alaska, this event follows the recent concerning trend of these floods to shift to more populated areas of Alaska, where they have increasing potential to damage essential infrastructure and displace residents.

Glaciers are slow-moving bodies of dense ice that are constantly moving downward on mountain slopes under their own weight. During the summer months, these glaciers shrink as some of it melts and drains away into rivers and then eventually out to sea. However, sometimes this flow of meltwater can be blocked by a plug of glacial ice—the accumulated water, with nowhere else to go, begins to tunnel below the glacier and destabilize the plug of ice. After enough water gets under, the plug of ice will float and melt rapidly, which results in catastrophic flooding that can evade barriers and cause significant damage. These glacial outburst floods have been responsible for over 12,000 deaths globally.

Climate change is causing glaciers to recede and shrink worldwide. Interestingly, this can actually cause a decline in the frequency of glacial outbursts, since this means glaciers are storing less water behind ice dams that are similarly shrinking. However, increasing temperatures mean that the existing glacial dams at higher altitudes and in colder locations could become less stable, which could form new lakes and areas at risk of outbursts. Additionally, while the frequency of glacial outbursts themselves may stay the same or even decrease, climate change has resulted in these floods occurring in populated areas that usually are not prone to such events, which increases the potential for both loss of life and loss of infrastructure later on.

The city of Juneau lined up miles of barriers along the Mendenhall Glacier this year, and these measures proved partially effective at keeping water from getting into certain neighborhoods. However, residents in the flood zone are paying more than $600 per year for this protection. These floods are examples of how shifts in the climate can cause sudden, unexpected events that have long-lasting consequences.

Invasive Tick Species Leads to Increasing Rates of Ehrlichiosis Infection

With climate change being responsible for increasing temperatures around the globe, and international trade routes resulting in ever-increasing connectedness around the world, countless new species have now been introduced into new geographic regions and have been able to thrive in places they had previously been unable to. This has paved the way for many invasive species to immensely disrupt ecosystems which were once stable, as they throw food chains off balance and often have no natural predators.

Recently, warming temperatures have allowed the invasive longhorned tick to become an endemic species in the US. The longhorned tick is a known carrier of the Ehrlichia chaffeensis, the bacterium that causes Ehrlichiosis. The species, which is native to East Asia, has now been detected in at least 21 states, its first sighting being in New Jersey. Those infected have a 60% hospitalization rate and a 1% mortality rate. Symptoms include fever, chills, muscle aches, headaches, and fatigue, but in more severe cases, the infection can lead to nervous system damage, respiratory failure, uncontrolled bleeding, and organ failure. Jennifer Platt, who contracted Ehrlichiosis from a tick bite in 2011, developed sickness and a locked shoulder from the disease, and had to go through months of physical therapy and was forced to miss three months of work, only making a full recovery over a year after being bitten. This infection has resulted in a region of the country being named after it: the “Ehrlichiosis Belt” is made of states as north as Connecticut as well as those as west as Arkansas. According to the CDC, there have been more emergency room visits for tick bites in July 2025 compared to July’s for the past eight years.

Being bitten by ticks is becoming an increasing concern, as rising temperatures cause not only the longhorned tick but also other tick species to wake early from hibernation, thereby increasing people’s chances of being bitten. Experts are informing residents to take precautions such as wearing long pants and tucking them into their socks, as well as taking time to perform regular tick checks on family members and pets after extended periods of outdoor time.

How Climate Change Affects the Monarch Butterfly

It’s always a joy to see a bright orange butterfly flying around but when was the last time you saw one? The Center for Biological Diversity estimates a 90% decline in monarch butterfly populations over the past two decades. This is largely due to, of course, our changing climate. A number of traits make monarch butterflies vulnerable to a changing environment. 

One trait is their dependence on milkweed. During their annual migration, monarchs breed as they fly north, chasing warmer temperatures and an abundance of milkweed plants so they can lay their eggs. Warming weather impacts the range, productivity, and phenology of that milkweed. As milkweed on migration routes become more scarce, this forces the butterflies to fly longer migration distances, potentially increasing monarch mortality during migration.

Another trait is the temperature. Every year in March, the eastern population of monarch butterflies begin their annual migration from Mexico to Texas and Oklahoma. The only factor telling these butterflies when to migrate is the temperature. In recent years, this migration has been delayed by as much as 6 weeks due to higher-than-normal temperatures, failing to trigger this biological instinct to move south. By the time the temperature was cool enough to trigger their instincts, it was already too cold in the Midwest, causing a decrease in their population.

How can we help these monarch butterflies? Well, there has already been a new conservation initiative: the Monarch Butterfly Habitat Exchange. Landowners get paid for maintaining and creating monarch habitat. This concept has been proven effective in engaging landowners in this conservation effort. As a Barrington member, working to restore and preserve nature locations such as St. Andrews is critical to monarch conservation. By working together, we can help protect this beloved species for future generations to experience the same joy of seeing a bright orange butterfly flying around.

Tips: Thrifting for sustainability

Americans throw away 13 million tons of clothing each year. Fast fashion leads to more clothes in landfills, more carbon emissions from textile manufacturing, and a waste of resources. Thrift shops can help combat that - and they have benefits for consumers too.

• Thrift shops result in less clothing in landfills. When you thrift, you stop old clothes from being thrown away.

• By decreasing demand for new products, thrifting helps reduce resource consumption. One pair of jeans is estimated to use nearly 1800 gallons of water in the manufacturing process, and that isn’t an issue when you thrift.

• But thrift stores aren’t just good for the environment - they’re good for you, too! Thrift stores also offer lower prices than traditional stores, saving your wallet.

• They offer many different styles of clothing, allowing you to keep your wardrobe updated — although keep in mind that it’s easy to over-buy at thrift stores, too.

Thrift stores aren’t the only places that offer these benefits - if there are no thrift shops near you, consider clothing swaps or garage sales, or repurposing and repairing clothing you already have. Through conscious consumption, we can all do our part to reduce clothing waste.