Alaska's orange rivers are more metallic than acid mine drainage

Thawing permafrost is changing entire river systems in Arctic Alaska

Alaska’s thawing permafrost is releasing acid and metals that turn rivers orange, changing water chemistry for dozens of miles.

Alaska’s Orange Rivers more metallic than acid mine drainage

The study, published in the journal AGU Advances, found that these metals can travel far and become more toxic as they go. Metal concentrations were about 70 times higher as much as 60 miles downstream from where they entered the river.

Alaska's Orange Rivers Are Carrying Metals Up to 70 Times Above Normal Levels

“These rivers are pretty much untouched, and yet this is happening here. It’s a new reality of climate change.”

What’s Up With Alaska’s Orange Rivers? A Concerning “New Reality Of Climate Change” Is Having An Unpredicted Impact

Melting permafrost is releasing minerals long trapped in frozen soils into Alaska’s streams.

Why Alaska’s salmon streams are suddenly bleeding orange

Warming Arctic permafrost is unlocking toxic metals, turning Alaska’s once-clear rivers into orange, acid-laced streams. The shift, eerily similar to mine pollution but entirely natural, threatens fish, ecosystems, and communities that depend on them—with no way to stop the process once it starts.

Alaska's orange rivers are more metallic than acid mine drainage

The bright orange plumes of water scientists first noticed billowing across a river in Alaska's Brooks Range in 2018 were even more acidic and metallic than water leached from metal mines, despite their pristine surroundings. That's according to a new University of California, Davis, study of six affected watersheds.