Background Articles

More than 120 responders are cleaning up oil and gas spills and restoring western Alaska communities after former Typhoon Halong’s storm-surge flooding. The U.S. Coast Guard and partners are recovering fuels and staging safe storage sites as winter conditions and limited daylight complicate work.

Remnants of Typhoon Halong drove record storm surge and hurricane-force winds into Western Alaska, devastating Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta villages like Kipnuk and Kwigillingok. Officials report dozens of homes destroyed, mass rescues, widespread outages, and at least one death, with many residents sheltering and recovery efforts underway.

A study of the “rusting” Salmon River and its tributaries in Kobuk Valley National Park suggests that permafrost thaw is causing wider ecological problems.

Retesting of private wells in Torbay, Newfoundland and Labrador found more homes above the 30 ng/L PFAS limit, prompting calls for a full hydrogeological study of groundwater contamination linked to firefighting foam from St. John’s International Airport.

The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority returns to Vittersjön near Ockelbo to conduct updated measurements of radioactivity in fish 35 years after Chernobyl, urging anglers to submit summer catches for analysis.

Residents of Baker Lake remain under a boil‑water advisory after 96 litres of heating fuel spilled near the community’s water intake, prompting increased sampling and monitoring.

A new study by University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers found that microplastics are transferred from mother Alaska spotted seals to their fetuses, with widespread contamination detected in various tissues.

New UAF research reveals that microplastics are transferred from pregnant spotted seals to their fetuses, raising concerns about plastic pollution in remote Arctic marine mammals.

Maine's investigation into PFAS contamination from sludge-based fertilizer has discovered the chemicals on over 100 farms, posing potential health risks.

Environmental experts are worried the cumulative effects of gas, oil and fuel spills aren't being adequately tracked in parts of the North. Last year, Nunavut and N.W.T. together recorded hundreds of contaminant spills, some of them small and others in the thousands of litres.

A Finnish Border Guard probe ruled out Neste as the source of white clumps that washed up on Hanko’s beaches, suggesting they may have come from a ship that used a Russian port.

Norilsk Nickel has deployed 16 automatic monitoring stations across Greater Norilsk to measure SO₂, H₂S, CO, NO₂, particulate matter, temperature, pressure and humidity, providing real-time air quality data every 20 minutes via the city’s website.

Mongolia's Cabinet has decided to implement a "Chimney-Free Zone" in Ulaanbaatar to improve air quality by banning solid fuel and promoting gas heating, alongside providing green loans and subsidies.

A major oil spill along Russia's Black Sea coast has mobilized volunteers as official response falters after two oil tankers were damaged during a storm.

The EPA has designated portions of the Upper Columbia River as a Superfund site due to pollution primarily from Canadian industrial sites, opening up federal funding for cleanup.