LEO Network

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The LEO Network is a worldwide network of observers and experts that share their observations of environmental change.
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Observations

Wildfire smoke blanketing much of B.C. causing health concerns, traffic warnings
The smoke has pushed pollution in Calgary and other cities to dangerous levels, and cast an unsettling, spooky haze over almost every part of B.C.
British Columbia, Canada
The Globe and Mail

The Kerala Floods
Since 2018, Kerala has faced increasingly severe and frequent floods, a stark contrast to its historical rarity, driven by factors like Indian Ocean warming and local environmental changes, underscoring a global trend of climate-driven extremes and the urgent need for improved flood management and climate adaptation.
Arukutti, Kerala, India

Global warming cooks up 'a different world' over 3 decades
Over 30 years the world’s annual temperature has warmed nearly 1 degree according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Salida, Colorado, United States
Lake Cowichan Gazette

U.S. Coastal Flooding Breaks Records as Sea Level Rises, NOAA Report Shows
The frequency of high-tide flooding has doubled in 30 years. Some cities faced more than 20 days of it in the past year, and not just during hurricanes.
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
InsideClimate News

Erosion may force this Southwest Alaska village to move — again
This is not the first time the village of Chefornak has faced the threat of erosion and flooding, but relocating won’t be as easy as it was last time.
Chefornak, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

Miami: How Rising Sea Levels Endanger South Florida
By century's end, rising sea levels will turn the nation's urban fantasyland into an American Atlantis. But long before the city is completely underwater, chaos will begin
Miami Beach, Florida, United States
Rolling Stone

'We need people to keep their head': Grocers, suppliers struggle to refill empty shelves in flooded B.C.
Authorities try to talk down a wave of panic buying in B.C. stores as washed-out roads and rail lines snarl supply chains
Rosedale, British Columbia, Canada
Financial Post

Norway BEV Sales: Over 80% Of New Cars Were All-Electric In May 2023
In May, 11,865 new passenger plug-in cars were registered in Norway (up 21% year-over-year), which is about 88.9% of the total volume.
Norway
InsideEVs

Russian planes seed clouds as raging wildfires near Siberian power plant
Russian planes seeded clouds to bring down rain on huge wildfires raging in the Siberian region of Yakutia that in one place spread dangerously close to a hydroelectric power plant, authorities said on Monday.
Yakutsk, Sakha, Russia
ArcticToday

Girdwood faces high costs to repair aftermath of record-breaking storm, official says
The temporary repairs would consume about 60% of the town’s annual budget for contract work on roads, a Girdwood official said.
Girdwood, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News look

The Aleutian Islands could become a hub for zero-emissions shipping
ICCT researcher Elise Georgeff has been investigating hydrogen as a potential replacement fuel. First, her team calculated how many ships could cross the Pacific Ocean using the existing hydrogen technology. "About 43% could be powered by using hydrogen fuel cells," Georgeff said.Unalaska and Adak islands in the Aleutians are in perfect locations to become pit stops in a trans-Pacific green corridor. Most of the international ships crossing from west to east follow the same path, and those two communities are right in the middle: about halfway through one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
Unalaska, Alaska, United States
Bristol Bay Times

Expanding renewable energy in rural Alaska | Alaska Insight
Climate change and global fuel shortages are combining to make energy prices unusually high in rural Alaska. Seeking relief from high energy prices and unreliable supplies are fueling transitioning to renewable energy. ANTHC is developing alternative energy projects in Ambler and has reknewable energy projects in more then 80 communities across the State.
Ambler, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

Orcas aren’t attacking ships — they’re just playful teens, scientists say
Since 2020, members of a small group of killer whales have rammed into at least 673 vessels off the coasts of Portugal, Spain and Morocco — causing some to sink. The Spanish and Portuguese governments responded by tasking a group of experts with determining what was causing the whales to strike rudders, which are used to steer ships, and how to stop it.
Off the Coast of Portugal and Spain

Gusty winds caused 2023 crash that killed ‘Flying Wild Alaska’ pilot Jim Tweto and passenger, federal investigators say
The renowned bush pilot was making a trip he’d made many times when the Cessna 180 crashed near Shaktoolik in June 2023.
Shaktoolik, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

A nuclear-powered ship in Murmansk started to burn. Only few locals got to know about the serious incident
A fire broke out on the nuclear-powered container ship Sevmorput in Murmansk, but information about the incident was scarcely communicated to the public.
Murmansk, Murmansk, Russia
The Independent Barents Observer

Monitoring Service for Multi-Year Permafrost to be Established in Chukotka
Chukotka lawmakers have unanimously approved a law protecting permafrost landscapes and establishing a government service to monitor permafrost changes.
Anadyr, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia
prochukotku.ru

Canadian Ice Service tracking icebergs in western Arctic for 1st time
Drifting icebergs can conflict with navigation routes and cause hazards for coastal communities and ships. Climate change is creating more ice shelf break-off than ever and scientists are keeping track of drifting patterns as a result.
Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada
CBC

Sea ice, storms and coastal erosion in Nelson Lagoon - Science Q&A with Reyce Bogardus
UAF graduate student Reyce Bogardus talks about sea ice, storms and coastal erosion at Nelson Lagoon, which is on the southernmost edge of the historical max...
Nelson Lagoon, Alaska, United States
YouTube

Kenai Peninsula borough declares flooding emergency
Kenai River flooding began last week when glacier-dammed lakes burst and caused water levels to rapidly rise. Water levels were already high due to recent rainfall.
Sterling, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

‘No home to go to’: Hundreds of evacuees need shelter as catastrophic Western Alaska storm empties inundated villages
Troopers said that they have suspended the active search for two men missing from Kwigillingok, one of the hardest-hit communities. The men are related to the storm’s lone confirmed fatality, a 67-year-old woman found Monday.
Kipnuk, Alaska, United States

First phase of Cape Blossom Road construction set to start this fall
For more than a decade, the city of Kotzebue has been planning to establish a deep-water port facility out at Cape Blossom, about 11 miles south of Kotzebue. A new road to the port would allow goods to be delivered to town, without the lightering fee.
Cape Blossom
KNBA

Signed Contract Worth Billions for Operating Hydrogen Ferries between Bodø and Lofoten: “World Class Climate Project”
The Norwegian Public Roads Administration and Torghatten Nord have signed an agreement on Norway’s first full-scale hydrogen ferry which allows for CO2 emission cuts equaling 13,000 diesel-fueled cars per year.
Bodø, Nordland, Norway
High North News

New work season opens for Denali Park Road bridge
The $100 million Pretty Rocks Bridge will cross the site of a landslide that has closed the road at Mile 45 since 2021.
Denali Park
Alaska Public Media

Haines disaster considered 200-500 year storm event
An assessment by geotechnical experts will need to be completed in order to know the stability of the slide and understand continuing risk.
Haines, Alaska, United States
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Food shipments arrive in Clyde River after reports of bare shelves
Several shipments of food made it into Clyde River, Nunavut, this week after delays due to weather. It's just the latest in a series of problems in the community that's been battered by weather since late January.
Clyde River, Nunavut, Canada
CBC

As the number of electric vehicles grows in Alaska, a charging station corridor is in the works
By summer, the heart of Alaska’s road system will feature a string of fast-charging stations between Fairbanks and the Kenai Peninsula.
Fairbanks, Alaska, United States

TOTE Maritime Alaska is now powering its ships with natural gas, cutting carbon and other pollutants
The company says it's the first in the world to convert a full fleet to run on the most environmentally friendly fuel available.
Tacoma, Washington, United States
Alaska Public Media

Climate-fuelled wildfires testing the limits of Canada's aging water bombers
A summer of devastating wildfires that burned huge swaths of the N.W.T. and forced countless communities across the country to evacuate has some experts questioning whether Canada is equipped for hotter, more intense fire seasons.
Canada
CBC

Invasive species bill introduced to Alaska legislature
In June 2010, researchers discovered Didemnum vexillum — also known as “rock vomit” — in Whiting Harbor near Sitka. This species, which can cover large areas of the seafloor, is an aggressive invader and a potential threat to shellfish farms, groundfish fisheries, fish spawning and other resources. The council is also concerned about the European green crab which can potentially travel in the ballast water of oil tankers and be released into Prince William Sound.
Seward, Alaska, United States
Prince William Sound

Caribou declines causing angst for Alaska hunters are part of wider North America trend
There are signs that climate change is depressing caribou herds across the north, and looming development could be an obstacle to recovery.
Alaska, United States
Alaska Beacon

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