Background Articles

Are the newly found sinkholes really new or are they just newly discovered? And how much of a concern at this point?

"Even ordinary rainfall can be regarded as an extreme event in polar regions," Dou said. This is because rain-on-snow events, which occur when rain falls onto an existing snowpack and freezes into an ice crust, impact wildlife, infrastructure and local communities.

Scientists determine geese died due to exhaustion and salt-poisoning. More birds end up dying because of the long flights they undertake, in extreme conditions.

The climate crisis is bringing extreme heat, changing ocean currents and intensifying storms – and it’s dealing a devastating blow to one of the most threatened groups of birds in the world.

Recently, however, scientists have observed not just shrinking lakes but lakes that have completely gone away. A paper published this year in Nature Climate Change, based on satellite imagery, found widespread lake loss across the Arctic over the past 20 years.

Special report: Ocean warming has put at risk the historic Alaska crab fishery. After a dismal summer survey, state biologists slashed this year’s harvest of snow crab by nearly 90% from 2021 levels.

It causes legs to fall off and, ultimately, results in disintegration of the animals’ bodies. Climate change may be behind that disease, as the arrival of Pacific marine heat waves coincided with the disease outbreak, according to federal biologists.The sea star, with a range from Baja California to the Aleutians, would be the first sea star with an Endangered Species Act listing.

Residents and Fish and Game present ideas and opinions around Northwest Caribou population and hunting regulations and restrictions. .

As Alaska faces an increased risk of spring breakup flooding this year, scientists are asking residents to share photos documenting major rivers’ progress from ice to water to help them predict with more accuracy where flooding might occur.

The chief of the U.N. nuclear agency will visit Japan next week to meet with officials and see final preparations for the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean.

The company says it's the first in the world to convert a full fleet to run on the most environmentally friendly fuel available.

Arctic climate science has been severely disrupted by the war in Ukraine, as US and European countries isolate Russia, leading to suspended funding, limited communication, and a fractured Arctic Council, hindering efforts to mitigate global warming and understand its dynamics.

Disagreements persist over the extent of the restoration plan for the Eklutna River in Alaska, with utilities arguing that a replacement dam would be costly and increase electric rates, while proponents of the plan believe it would benefit the public interest by boosting local fishing and tourism and improving the ecosystem.

Ancient pathogens that have been preserved in northern Russia’s permafrost for millennia could reawaken as global temperatures rise, scientists warn, potentially putting humanity at risk of never-before-seen diseases.

When Jody Potts-Joseph was growing up, her family mushed sled dogs during the harsh Alaskan winters to hunt and trap, feeding them salmon caught from the Yukon River by the thousands. But after rebuilding her sled dog team as an adult, Potts-Joseph, a member of the Han Gwich'in tribe, had to turn to store-bought dog food. The river that was once renowned for its salmon doesn't have enough to offer anymore.

Garden writer Jeff Lowenfels asks whether there is more matter falling from birch trees late this summer than in previous years,

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.

Researchers have developed a non-invasive method to monitor polar bear and lynx populations by extracting environmental DNA from their paw prints in the snow, offering a safer and potentially more informative alternative to traditional tracking methods.

Newtok's school faces demolition due to severe riverbank erosion, as the community grapples with climate-induced relocation challenges.

Researchers want to use the ultrafine rock particles left by eroding glaciers to suck climate-warming carbon from the air.