Why Alaska’s Once-Clear Rivers Are Now Rusting Orange

Picture this: the water flowing from your tap is no longer clear, but a murky orange. Or perhaps, your favorite local park stream, usually teeming with life, now resembles a toxic spill. While such unsettling scenes might feel like fiction in an urban setting, a stark and similar reality is unfolding in Alaska’s untouched wilderness. There, dozens of once-clear rivers are dramatically shifting to a striking orange hue. This isn’t just an odd sight; it signals significant and concerning transformations within one of the world’s most pristine river systems.