DAILY GALAXY - In Alaska’s far north, something strange is happening. Rivers that once ran crystal clear are now turning a rusty orange, and scientists say the shift is permanent. A new study published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has uncovered the hidden force behind this transformation, one that is quietly releasing metals into waterways and reshaping the Arctic landscape for good.
Orange Water Showing Up Everywhere
Over the last decade, people traveling through Alaska’s Brooks Range have noticed rivers that look more like they’ve been polluted by a mine than fed by melting snow. “This is what acid mine drainage looks like,” said Tim Lyons, a biogeochemist at the University of California, Riverside. “But here, there’s no mine. The permafrost is thawing and changing the chemistry of the landscape.”