The Yukon River Delta in Alaska

The Yukon River Delta in Alaska Today’s Video of the Day comes from the European Space Agency (ESA) and features a look at the Yukon River Delta in Alaska.

The Yukon River begins in British Columbia in western Canada and winds through Yukon territory before flowing through Alaska and emptying into the Bering Sea.

These images were captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite mission. A river in the Yukon has changed direction, and climate change is the culprit. The Yukon’s Kaskawulsh Glacier used to melt into the Slims River, flowing north through Alaska and into the Bering Sea. However, over the course of just four days, the river changed direction and now flows a short distance south and empties into the Gulf of Alaska.

The Yukon River Basin is approximately 330,000 square miles (850,000 km2) in area and 1,980 miles (3,190 km) in length. This makes the Yukon River Basin the fourth largest basin in North America. It is located between the Rocky Mountains in the north and the Pacific Mountain system to the south. The name Yukon comes from the Gwich’in word Yu-kun-ah meaning “great river” and is a reference to the Yukon River. 

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By Rory Arnold, Earth.com Staff Writer

Video Credit: European Space Agency