Background Articles

There's somewhat of a slow motion invasion of a fresh water crustacean happening in Buskin River and Buskin Lake. It has a hard shell, two claws and tastes great in pies.

Lake Fortune which has unusual under-ice cyanobacterial growth and Lake Beauchamp which is supposed to be low in nutrients as it is mainly fed by groundwater. Cyanobacterial toxicity level is increasing in these two lakes threatening life and livelihood of the local community.

Janice Moore, who lives along the West Channel, is worried about fuel contamination after intense flooding in Hay River, N.W.T., left multiple fuel containers strewn about her property. "You can smell the diesel smell and fuel smell," she said.

The Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation is warning spring melt could cause the tailings dam at the abandoned Mount Nansen mine in central Yukon to overflow or breach, which would send a toxic slurry into the environment.

IThe Great Whale River landslide, which happened about eight kilometres upstream from the Cree and Inuit villages of Whapmagoostui and Kuujjuarapik, was too far south to be caused by melting permafrost, and too deep to be caused by variations in the climate, says a landslide expert.

Nunavut communities have seen a five-year high of water advisories in 2021, without counting Iqaluit’s ongoing water emergency. As of Friday, about a month before the year’s end, 14 water advisories had been issued in seven communities outside of the capital city this year, more than tripling the four advisories issued in 2017.

For the residents of Tuluksak, breakup means that they will once again be losing their source of running water.

Colorado Springs' housing boom is expanding into nearby cities, like Fountain. But new homes require water — and there are currently fewer than 9,000 taps to Fountain’s water supply.

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.

Growing population and limited water has Utah lawmakers and conservation groups discussing how to replenish the state's water sources. A new state grant program will help farmers convert idle land in an effort to mitigate the environmental and economic effects of drought on the state.

Widespread mortality of Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp. returning to spawn in Alaska coincided with record-breaking air temperatures and prolonged drought in summer 2019.

Due to anticipated continued increased temperatures, Finland's inland fishing problems are likely to continue.

Great Salt Lake is also known as America's Dead Sea -- owing to a likeness to its much smaller Middle Eastern counterpart -- but scientists worry the moniker could soon take new meaning.

Federal regulators have approved a plan to demolish four Klamath River dams, a historic act that is intended to save imperiled salmon. “The Klamath salmon are coming home,” Yurok Tribe Chairman Joseph James said in a statement. “The people have earned this victory and with it, we carry on our sacred duty to the fish that have sustained our people since the beginning of time.”

An evacuation alert has been issued by Yukon Emergency Measures Organization for areas of Tagish, Marsh Lake and Lewes River Road. This alert is due to high water and flooding in the areas. Water levels have exceeded what they were in the 2007 flood.

Called yedomas in Russia, the mounds of land are much more populous there.

Two resolutions brought before the Alaska Federation of Natives during this year’s annual convention called for efforts to reduce salmon bycatch for fish that return to the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers.

“This sort of became my purpose in life, to make something for my children and for humanity going forward,” said Dave Brailey, the mastermind behind the Juniper Creek Hydroelectric Project.

Cecelia Brooks remembers a time when the deep forest of New Brunswick was so cold, snow could still be found in its depths in August. That rarely happens anymore. Brooks, who lives on St. Mary's First Nation in Fredericton, is one of many Indigenous people in the Wabanaki region who say climate change is threatening traditional plants and medicines. Those changes, Brooks says, could alter their way of life.

The Institute of Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) Tribes and Climate Change Program is publishing a report called the Status of Tribes and Climate C...