Arctic sea ice is melting at accelerating rates, and a new study contributed to by the University of Alaska Fairbanks provides a better understanding as to why. UAF Oceanography professor Harper Simmons joins KYUK s Greg Kim to talk about his research.
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The Colonial Pipeline hack revealed cyber risks that President Biden seeks to address with the nationâs first cybersecurity review board, modeled after the National Transportation Safety Board.
âItâs a good start,â said Roger Nebel, a cybersecurity instructor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.Â
âBut congressional action also is needed,â said Nebel, who teaches at the UAF Homeland Security and Emergency Management Program.Â
Bidenâs 14-page order places a new emphasis on national cybersecurity. The executive order:
Sets up the federal cybersecurity board to review attacks like the Colonial breach by a Russian criminal group.Enhances oil and gas industry standards for cybersecurity at federal agencies and for contractors that do business with them.Updates security standards for software sold to the government.Â
Masks wonât be required at Fairbanks North Star Borough facilities, except for the bus system, for vaccinated people after June 1, according to a Friday afternoon announcement from the borough.
Masks will continue to be required on the boroughâs Metropolitan Area Commuter System in accordance with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency relaxed public health guidance for vaccinated people last week, but not for people riding public planes, trains and buses. On public transportation, everyone is required to continue to mask up, even vaccinated people.
No vaccination proof will be requested of unmasked people at borough facilities, such as the Mary Siah Recreation Center or the Juanita Helms Borough Administration Center, according to a statement from Mayor Bryce Ward.
Researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks led the effort, which created a way for marine scientists to factor into their results the vast amounts of anthropogenic carbon dioxide that are being absorbed by oceans. Those human-caused carbon sources can muddy research results a problem known as the Suess effect leading to flawed conclusions about the health and productivity of marine ecosystems. The baseline carbon signature looks different than it did before the Industrial Revolution, said Casey Clark, a former UAF postdoctoral researcher who led the effort. People have known this for a while, but there hasn t been a consistent way to correct for a potential bias in the data.