Alaska and Hawaii

"Alaska voters approved a ballot measure aimed at adding a hurdle to the potential development of a major copper and gold mine."

"The vast marshes on the southwestern tip of the Alaskan peninsula must look like a buffet to a seagrass-loving goose like the Pacific black brant."

"Royal Dutch Shell Plc is asking the Obama administration for five more years to explore for oil off Alaska’s coast, saying set backs and legal delays may push the start of drilling past the 2017 expiration of some leases."

"HONOLULU — Hawaii officials will make arrangements for those living in the path of a lava flow to watch the destruction of their homes.

That accommodation is being made to 'provide for a means of closure,' Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira said Monday. 'You can only imagine the frustration as well as ... despair they're going through.'

Dozens of residents have been told they might have to evacuate as lava from Kilauea heads toward their homes."

"A powerful Pacific storm predicted to grow to hurricane force churned toward Hawaii, bringing with it heavy rains and potentially destructive winds that could begin hitting the state later Friday."

"KAKTOVIK, Alaska — In Betty Brower’s memories, there is always ice. Even in the summer, when the sea around Barter Island was open, she could look out and see the jagged shapes of icebergs on the horizon."

"As sea ice melts and permafrost thaws, indigenous traditions are being forced to change, say researchers."

"It’s early morning in southeast Alaska. Stars have yet to fade from the night sky. A group of scientists sets out in search of a different kind of star. Sea stars, commonly known as starfish, have been vanishing from North America’s Pacific shoreline."

"In the past decade, the National Park Service has objected to at least 50 proposals by Alaska wildlife officials to liberalize the killing of predators within national preserves, but to no avail."

"Pacific walrus that can’t find sea ice for resting in Arctic waters are coming ashore in record numbers on a beach in north-west Alaska."