Chris W 64.9N
@borealchrys.bsky.social
810 followers 590 following 1.1K posts
Arctic and polar science. Geospatial data science. Remote sensing. Wildfire, ice, and hazards in the high northern latitudes. All posts & opinions are mine. Not speaking for anyone. 🏳️‍🌈 🧶 🪈🎻 📚 🎓 📡 ❄️🔥 🌎 Views are mine.
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Dominate? Isn’t that a function of who you choose to follow? I filter for good-faith engagement so I see a range of reasonable takes, just big enough to be compatible with mt values and expand mt worldview a little. What I mostly see is exhortations to join in and come out to protest…
Reposted by Chris W 64.9N
These guys are all Be A Man and RETVRN and tradwife life and four kids in your late 20s and early 30s like a Boss till someone asks them to take an ounce of responsibility for their hundreds of pro-Hitler shitposts, at which point the Vice President pops up in their defense crying uwu smol nazi bean
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For most Americans it's too remote to understand. Entire communities uprooted. The costs and difficulties of rebuilding far too prohibitive for many to overcome. Social webs through which knowledge has traveled for generations risk being lost. The impacted villages will never be the same again.
In photos: Mass evacuation of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok residents begins from western Alaska | Alaska Beacon
Residents of Kipnuk and Kwigillingok began evacuating en masse on Wednesday, flying in military aircraft from their western Alaska communities which were devastated by ex-Typhoon Halong. On Wednesday ...
alaskabeacon.com
Reposted by Chris W 64.9N
WESTERN ALASKA FLOODS UPDATE:

Authorities have determined that none of the housing in either Kipnuk or Kwigillingok is safe to occupy

Residents were being evacuated to Bethel. But now… residents of both villages will be evacuated to Anchorage - almost 500 miles away
I appreciate this thread (including the original piece) and having a discussion for the old fashioned purpose of refining one's position and better adapting it to its context.

I may come back later with more thoughts, on shoring up shared values and on language as a battlefield.
"And yet Táíwò’s own position misses something fundamental about the world we now inhabit. Shame does not operate in a vacuum...today, the sturdy ground that once formed shame’s foundation has collapsed."

Helpful response by @eric-reinhart.com in @newrepublic.com

newrepublic.com/article/2015...
Why Shame No Longer Works in American Politics
While it once played a role in binding society, shame has lost its power—and so have the liberal tools that depend on it.
newrepublic.com
Some people still play sackbuts today.
Reposted by Chris W 64.9N
There needs to be more coverage of this in the news. I have read so many stories bout this on Facebook, first hand stories of the terror of that storm, and very little coverage n media.
www.facebook.com/100000960660...
Screenshot of a Facebook post. Photo is an elderly woman holding a child on her ap on a couch with flood water around them. Both are wearing jackets inside. Text says: This was after our 1st drift.. staying put for awhile. Our 3rd and final drift was terrifying. House moving fast then we started spinning in circles. While we were spinning in circles my oldest daughter was just staring at me while I held onto my younger two. Kipnuk doesn't look like kipnuk anymore, like more than 3/4 of the homes displaced, power poles fallen. It smells like stove oil outside. Contaminated
Excellent article by @alaskawx.bsky.social explaining the weather conditions that led to the flooding catastrophe, and how it all fits into the bigger picture: funding weather forecasting, & climate change.
I strongly urge you to read this interview with @alaskawx.bsky.social who has unique insight and perspective on the catastrophic surge event in western Alaska I wrote about with his help.

theconversation.com/typhoon-leav...
More musical resistance
The Unipiper showed up. 💙
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Student journalist Renasia Uisok reports on the storm damage in their community of Kotlik!

For QTV Kotlik "Quyana TV," produced by middle and high schoolers.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOIk...
Typhoondamagekotlik
YouTube video by QTV Kotlik
www.youtube.com
Reposted by Chris W 64.9N
If you’re in Petersburg, Cooper Landing, Seward, Ketchikan, Tok, Unalaska, Soldotna, Skagway, and Bethel, you should get free access to a news database through your library! There are 20+ Alaska news publications in there, including many that are normally paywalled. www.kfsk.org/2025/10/13/g...
Grant funding will give 15 Alaska libraries free access to many paywalled newspapers - KFSK
Fifteen libraries across Alaska will be gaining access to a large online database of national and in-state news sources. The Alaska Library Network received a $10,250 grant from the Atwood Foundation,...
www.kfsk.org
This is where I donated - it will arrive where it needs to.
If you're able, please consider a donation to the Alaska Community Fund to help people in western Alaska impacted by ex-typhoon Halong even as winter is bearing down. All the money donated goes to the region. Quyana. #Alaska #AlaskaSky

alaskacf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/c...
Screen shot of the ACF Western Alaska Disaster Relief 2025 Fund: 

"In response to recent severe storms, including Typhoon Halong, that devastated Alaska's western coast, local community organizations and regional partners have come together to establish the Western Alaska Disaster Relief Fund, housed at the Alaska Community Foundation. 
Two major storm systems struck western Alaska in rapid succession, bringing record flooding, extreme winds, and extensive damage from Kwigillingok to Kotzebue. Homes have been damaged and destroyed, critical infrastructure compromised, and subsistence resources disrupted. The Western Alaska Disaster Relief Fund will provide support to affected communities for immediate relief, recovery support, and long-term resilience, including disaster preparedness initiatives. Distribution decisions will be guided by advisors including regional leaders and stakeholders, ensuring resources reach affected communities based on locally identified needs.

The Western Alaska Disaster Relief Fund brings together a growing list of local, regional, and statewide partners endorsing the fund, including:

    Association of Village Council Presidents
    Alaska Federation of Natives
    Alaska Native Heritage Center
    Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
    Bethel Community Services Foundation
    Calista Corporation
    Healthy Alaska Natives Foundation
    First Alaskans Institute
    Kawerak, Inc.
    Native Peoples Action
    Maniilaq Association

    Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation"
Reposted by Chris W 64.9N
How W. E. B. Du Bois responded to government policing of "anti-American" sentiment during the 1910s:

"I took great satisfaction in being able to sit back in my chair and answer blandly, 'We are seeking to have the Constitution of the United States thoroughly and completely enforced.' ”
Federal agents invaded even the offices of The Crisis and the National Association for the advancement of colored people and asked searching questions: " just what, after all, were our objects and activities?” I took great satisfaction in being able to sit back in my chair and answer blandly, “We are seeking to have the constitution of the United states thoroughly and completely enforced.” It took some ingenuity, even for Southerners, to make treason out of that.
Reposted by Chris W 64.9N
What does Typhoon Halong reveal about housing conditions in Western Alaska? Here's a thread...👇
Reposted by Chris W 64.9N
Just want the rest of the country to know that the Alaska National Guard is being deployed and utilized for ALL THE RIGHT REASONS today!

They’re aiding with search/rescue and disaster relief to several Alaska Native villages hit with a climate change induced natural disaster

They’re saving lives
Reposted by Chris W 64.9N
This is a key reason why the #akleg renewed discussion last year or fully funding maintenance obligations for REAA school districts can't fall by the wayside until we actually address major maintenance; schools are critical emergency hubs
Notably, local schools are serving as emergency shelter + evacuation centers throughout coastal communities hit by remnants of Typhoon Halong in Western Alaska -

www.kyuk.org/alaska-state...
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On this Indigenous Peoples’ Day - a reminder to @sendansullivan.bsky.social Sen. Murkowski & Rep. Begich - the #climatecrisis is hitting us hard! We need #FEMA, essential air travel services, #PublicMedia, #Science for monitoring weather. This Administration is actively harming Alaskans. Do better!
Wind damage reports coming in from the western Interior, including downed trees and power lines and building roof damage at Koyukuk. Winds so strong at Huslia that boats were pushed out into the Koyukuk River. #akwx #Autumn2025
Reposted by Chris W 64.9N
yearly reminder to people insisting that we view Christopher Columbus as "a man of his time" that *the people responsible for the Spanish Inquisition* thought Columbus was out of pocket
Christopher Columbus was dragged back to Spain in chains by a crusading knight, convicted of tyranny and immeasurable cruelty, pardoned by Isabella but banned from returning to Hispaniola.

Fuck Columbus.
NYT on the current situation in W Alaska following ex-typhoon Halong. Featuring my friend Amy Hendricks, who is a PhD graduate from our program. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/u...
Dozens Rescued in Remote Alaskan Villages in Storm That Swept Away Homes
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Chris W 64.9N
Western Alaska was hit hard by the recent storms. Houses floated away in Kipnuk, houses flipped over, people lost everything from the flooding that came with the storms. Please donate if you can. This group has a long history of supporting AK communities.

alaskacf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/c...
Reposted by Chris W 64.9N
“Troopers have received secondhand reports of people who are unaccounted for in Kipnuk and are continuing to work with local officials to verify and confirm how many people are missing,” DPS wrote.”
LIVE BLOG: Dozens of people rescued, some still unaccounted for, DPS says
Former Typhoon Halong made landfall overnight into Sunday. Its strongest impacts were felt in the Kuskokwim delta area.
www.alaskasnewssource.com
Reposted by Chris W 64.9N
UPDATE FROM SHISHMAREF:

“The government delayed funds for our projects for sea wall... We cannot keep protecting with sea wall against Mother Nature… Cannot stop rising sea levels. Wish our fed and state agencies can help all the communities in danger of flooding and erosion”
Good morning. There is rime all over the landscape. Options for today include Fiber Fest, Hamfest, “no kings” sign making party, practicing my cello, and making edits to a student paper that I really wanted to have done yesterday.