Background Articles

Environmental campaigners stressed the need for the incoming Biden White House to put in place permanent protections for Alaska's Bristol Bay after the Trump administration on Wednesday denied a permit for the proposed Pebble Mine that threatened "lasting harm to this phenomenally productive ecosystem" and death to the area's Indigenous culture.

11,500 years ago, Norway experienced one of the fastest meltdowns the world has seen. Now scientists fear the same thing is happening elsewhere.

It turns out that a bit of melting helps support larger populations of seals, which are the bears’ main food supply. But this benefit will likely dwindle as sea ice continues to melt due to climate change, said Brandon Laforest, senior specialist of Arctic species and ecosystems with WWF-Canada.

Meteorologist Alex O'Brien dives into what has led to an extended fire season this year.

A spill that dumped thousands of tons of diesel fuel into the Russian Arctic earlier this year was caused by violations during construction and operation of a storage tank, not permafrost melt, according to a preliminary investigation. 

Why the "Cluster 5" coronavirus mutation in fur farms has led to a nationwide cull and a political outcry.

Why the "Cluster 5" coronavirus mutation in fur farms has led to a nationwide cull and a political outcry.

People carried the coronavirus onto mink farms in the Netherlands, starting a viral back-and-forth that ended up with 68% of fur farm workers and their close associates infected, researchers reported Tuesday.

The appeal was sent to president Putin on 30 October on behalf of Moscow and St Petersburg surfing federations, pointing his attention to the fact that traces of rocket fuel were found in samples from the polluted area. It means that the anthropogenic version of the recent environmental catastrophe mustn’t be brushed aside, the surfers say.

People swimming at Sydney's world famous Bondi Beach had a close shave with several sharks. Drone footage showed dozens of people taking a morning dip and swimming past a large school of salmon, unaware that up to two sharks, believed to be Grey Nurses, were feeding on the fish nearby.

The event caused a die off of up to 95% of marine life along the seabed. The Russia's Academy of Sciences announced that the mass death was due to the effects of toxins from single-cell algae. Environmentalists are conducting their own inquiries and were not yet able to confirm the official probe's findings.

Environmental campaigners said they were conducting their own inquiries and were not yet able to confirm the official probe's findings.

Now believed to be caused by an unprecedented algae bloom, the decimation of bottom-dwelling sea life may have devastating ripple effects.

A broad area of yellow foam is prompting some marine biologists to blame the catastrophe on a harmful algae. However, Governor Vladimir Solodov believes the most likely explanation is a spill. Tests have shown petroleum levels four times higher and phenol levels 2.5 times above normal.

Injured surfers and large number of dead sea creatures reported in Kamchatka region. Some experts have suggested highly toxic rocket fuel could have leaked into the sea. The first test site, Radygino, is about six miles (10km) from the sea.

Eugene Asicksik, the mayor at the time, had watched Shaktoolik’s shoreline erode for years. After the September 2013 storm threw tree-sized driftwood dangerously close to the homes, Eugene knew something had to be done to protect the community. He turned to beavers for inspiration, designing Shaktoolik’s first storm surge berm based on the impressive beaver dams upriver.

Bottlenose dolphins on Scotland’s east coast are expanding their range and swimming further south, according to one of the world’s longest-running studies of the species.

Organizations representing Yukon River communities are drafting a letter to Gov. Mike Dunleavy seeking a fishery disaster declaration for this summer’s

When Arctic fish are too hot, they can get lethargic, slow down, and possibly turn back during their migration to seek cooler water. When the water gets really warm they can even lose their ability to stay upright.

The sudden deaths of some 330 elephants in northwestern Botswana earlier this year may have occurred because they drank water contaminated by toxic blue-green algae, the government announced Monday.