Background Articles

A new report by the World Meteorological Organization declares 2024 as the warmest year in 175 years, driven by human-caused CO2 emissions. The unprecedented warmth is raising sea levels faster and endangering millions along coastlines, especially in Arctic regions like Svalbard.

While the U.S. grapples with an egg shortage caused by avian flu, eggs remain plentiful and affordable in Canada. There are reasons for that, including that egg farms there tend to be smaller.

In Maine, Wabanaki tribes, scientists, and conservation groups are banding together to preserve native seeds, particularly those of the culturally significant brown ash, as a defense against the invasive emerald ash borer.

A powerful storm in southwest Iceland caused extensive coastal damage and raised concerns over the adequacy of existing sea defences, prompting calls for a significant increase in funding for future protection.

"The amount we could export would not solve their egg shortage," says the head of the Finnish Poultry Association.

Researchers in southwestern Alaska are investigating why the once-thriving Mulchatna caribou herd has not rebounded, focusing on factors such as disease and nutrition. The study employs real-time monitoring of pregnant caribou and detailed fat measurements to evaluate calf survival and overall herd health.

Finland’s Arctic Lapland experienced an unseasonably mild February with average temperatures about 7°C higher than normal, while snowfall and precipitation remained below average.

New research reveals that climate change is causing the collapse of 17th and 18th century graves in Svalbard, exposing skeletal remains and textiles to the harsh elements. Rising temperatures and changing permafrost conditions are accelerating erosion and degradation of these culturally significant sites.

Researchers in southwestern Alaska are closely monitoring the Mulchatna caribou herd using advanced technology to determine whether disease or nutrition is behind the herd’s failure to recover. The study comes amid efforts to understand a dramatic population decline that has led to a subsistence hunting closure.

Rising Arctic temperatures are causing centuries-old graves on Svalbard to deteriorate, with collapsing coffins exposing skeletal remains to the elements.

Rainy sloppy conditions in Trondheim underscored the importance of the climate work. But the warm wet weather barely dampened the enthusiasm of the Norwegian crowd.

Shrinking sea ice along northern Labrador is forcing Inuit communities to adapt by blending traditional knowledge with modern technology to address the climate crisis.

The mountain lion was the first reported sighting of the species in Southeast Alaska since 1998.

What a virtually snowless winter and early spring means for flower beds, car and ski trail maintenance, recreators, snowplowers and pooper scoopers in Anchorage.

In recent years, researchers have documented salmon surviving in North Slope rivers, bowhead whales expanding their foraging grounds and humpbacks moving into the Arctic.

The decision worried some local scientists and experts who say the data was vital for people to be able to monitor air quality and their government’s progress in improving public health.

Vehicles accumulate dirt, which has minerals, and minerals are hard to come by in the environment during winter. Salt could certainly be one of the minerals they seek as sodium is a driver of appetite, but it is possible it could be another type of mineral they’re after—hard to say for sure without getting a profile of the dirt.

Bethel and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta experienced one of the mildest winters on record, with Bethel marking its sixth warmest winter in 101 years amid unusually low snowpack.

Scant snow is giving way to shaggy brown grass normally not seen until spring breakup, raising concerns now that conditions are increasingly ripe for a fast-moving fire at a time of year usually deep in the grip of winter.

A Yukon government survey reveals significantly above average snowpack levels in parts of the territory, particularly in the Klondike region, signaling a potential for increased flood risk.