Monday January 26, 2026
KTOO —
Before juvenile salmon make their way to the sea, they grow and feed in freshwater, including wetlands, for anywhere between a few months and several years.
But new research finds that as air temperatures rise with climate change, the water that flows through coastal Alaska’s ponds and marshes is warming rapidly, too. That could spell trouble for Pacific salmon, which can’t grow – or live – in waters above certain temperatures.
“I’ve never really hoped so much that I might be wrong,” said Amaryllis Adey, a researcher at Virginia Tech.