Background Articles

The need to diversify America's sources of graphite for electric vehicle batteries is driving the exploration of graphite mining projects in the United States, but concerns about the potential environmental impact and disruption to Indigenous communities remain.

Researchers from the University of Oklahoma are using Unangax knowledge and oral traditions to solve the mystery of ancient bear bones found on Unalaska and Amaknak Islands in Alaska, with the possibility that the bones were transported by sea from a neighboring island.

The Nez Perce Tribe in Idaho is leading efforts to protect vulnerable community members from wildfire smoke indoors by distributing free portable air purifiers and providing education on indoor air quality. A nearby paper mill is a local source of emissions. But now, wildfire smoke is the main pollutant the reservation faces, a near-constant each summer.

Residents of Grindavik have evacuated the town as the threat of a volcanic eruption looms over Iceland.

Researchers looked inside the stomachs of 34 spotted seals that were collected in Gambell and Shishmaref in 2012 and 2020. Of those, 33 contained microplastics.

Two men in Montana have been indicted for killing approximately 3,600 birds, including protected bald and golden eagles, to sell their parts on the black market.

An executive order issued by President Biden extends the ban on Russian seafood imports to include products processed in other countries, closing a loophole from previous sanctions.

Experts use measuring sticks and tanks in regular intervals to monitor snowfall as this season’s total approaches an all-time high.

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.

The renowned bush pilot was making a trip he’d made many times when the Cessna 180 crashed near Shaktoolik in June 2023.

When I asked my father a question about the flu, you can feel him withdraw into himself, see him dose his eyes, become very quiet, even start saying some names and block out (showing any emotions) when someone that was close to him dies. l have seen this in almost all the Elders who's parents died during the flu.

Ben Rich looks back at a month in which an air frost has been seen somewhere in the UK every single morning. In fact, provisional data from the Met Office suggests it has been the frostiest April for at least 60 years - with the lowest average minimum temperatures since 1922.

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.

Once believed extinct, Alaska’s wood bison have survived their first winter, and new calves represent a huge milestone for the state’s experimental project.

An endemic High Arctic bumblebee subspecies, Bombus glacialis, has been discovered by Arkhangelsk researchers on the Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean.

Biologists were able to collect valuable data on these rare animals during a special whale survey in August.

Alaska Wildlife News is an online magazine published by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Fish traps have a long history around the world, and a vast network in a Vancouver Island estuary reveals generations of ecological wisdom.

“Our results suggest that warming is both increasing freshwater habitat and improving early marine survival of pink salmon in the northern Bering Sea,” said Ed Farley, NOAA Fisheries biologist at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, who led the study.