LEO Network

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The LEO Network is a worldwide network of observers and experts that share their observations of environmental change.
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Observations

Ice of Change - Amid Waterfowl Sightings
No sea ice; hunters say it should not be like this today.
Diomede, Alaska, United States

At Herschel Island, history is eroding
Herschel Island has seen a lot of people come and go. The Inuvialuit have used the place, known as Qikiqtaruk in Inuvialuktun, for at least 1,000 years.
Herschel Island, Yukon Territory, Canada
Yukon News

Canadian Arctic faces threat of coastal erosion
Darren Nasogaluak has an unusual problem.As the mayor of Tuktoyaktuk, a small Inuvialuit hamlet on the coast of the Beaufort Sea, he has had to watch bits of his community wash away over the years.
Herschel Island - Qikiqtaruk Territorial Park, Beufort Sea, YT, Canada
ND Arctic Deeply

Vandalism of mammoth graveyards in Siberia
Unique paleontological sites are facing destruction from gangs seeking to sell prehistoric remains. The hunters are especially active in late summer, when the permafrost retreats leaving mammoth remains more visible.
Zhokhov island
Siberia Times

St. Paul’s fur seal pups at lowest level in 100 years
Scientist Rod Towell has been part of the fur seal counts since 1992. He said the difference at the rookeries is striking. Northern fur seal pup production has hit its lowest level since 1915.
Saint Paul, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

Kenai Peninsula permafrost thawing rapidly
A recent study estimates permafrost coverage on the peninsula has decreased by 60 percent since 1950. Permafrost is usually associated with Northern and Interior Alaska, but it also occurs in isolated pockets in wetlands on the Kenai Peninsula.
Ridgeway, Alaska, United States
KBBI Homer

St. Paul’s reindeer thrive without lichen
As lichen has disappeared, the herd has changed its diet. This adaptation could have global implications for reindeer facing a warming climate.
Saint Paul, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

Permafrost thaw altering chemistry of Yukon River
As Alaska warms and permafrost thaws, the chemistry of the Yukon River's water is transforming chemically, new research from the U.S. Geological Survey shows.
Pilot Station, Alaska, United States
Alaska Dispatch News

How tundra wildfires could create an unstoppable cycle
The 2007 fire was probably the first for that area in 6,500 years, according to scientific evidence examined later, Higuera said. But the wait for the next big burn won't be nearly as long, according to the evidence gathered in the study.
Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska, United States
Alaska Dispatch News

Asian tapeworm found in Alaskan salmon
Scientists recently announced they had found an Asian tapeworm species in pink salmon caught off the coast of the Kenai Peninsula. Listen now
Hope, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

Muuelomuuel (Red Flowering Currant Ribes sanguineum) Flowering
Flowers blooming near the mouth of the Klamath River
Klamath, California, United States

Lowest Temperatures in Years Coming to Southcentral and Interior Alaska
In Anchorage, the temperatures forecast for this week won't come close to breaking any city records, Ahsenmacher said. But they are a departure from years of mild winters that rarely saw temperatures below zero.
Anchorage, Alaska, United States
Alaska Dispatch News

Fog and cold have created perfect conditions for a frosty Anchorage
After years of low snow and higher winter temperatures, Anchorage once again looks like a real northern city thanks to a heavy layer of frost.
Anchorage, Alaska, United States

Lavado de orilla

Early American Robin (Turdus migratorius) Sighting
A robin was sighted in southcentral Alaska; an early arrival.
Port Graham, Alaska, United States

Desperate exodus of the climate refugees | Letters
Letters: Climate change is driving long-term environmental damage and sudden catastrophes, presenting a global long-term threat to human security
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
the Guardian

Snow Storm May Have Saved Dozens of Saimaa Seal Pups
Heavy snows over the weekend are likely to have saved up to half of the rare, endangered Saimaa seal pups being born this winter season from death by exposure or from predators.
Taipalsaari, South Karelia, Finland
yle

Ski Jumpers Finally Compete
It has been three years since the Anchorage ski jumping club has been able to hold our New Year competition.
Anchorage, Alaska, United States

Seal - Harbor (Phoca vitulina) or Spotted (Phoca largha) with Hair Loss and Skin Infection
Was observed for the first time.
Saint Paul, Alaska, United States
Kathy Burek Huntington, Raphaela Stimmelmayr, Pamela Lestenkof, Gay Sheffield

New Year's storm pummels Bering Strait, St. Lawrence Island
A series of low pressure systems swept through western and northwestern Alaska beginning December 28 until things calmed down on January 2, leaving sections of villages without power and communicat
Bering Sea, Western Alaska
The Nome Nugget

Newtok asks: Can the U.S. deal with slow motion climate disasters?
Newtok, Alaska, United States

Nomads no more: why Mongolian herders are moving to the city
Climate change and the end of Soviet state support have forced 600,000 to migrate to the capital, leaving it struggling to cope.
Ulan Bator, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
The Guardian

Warm winter sets back construction of Dettah ice road
Construction is beginning today on the ice road connecting Yellowknife to Dettah on the N.W.T.'s Yellowknife Bay, but a warm November means that it will open in January for the second time since the 2006/2007 season, and the second year in a row.
Yellowknife Ice Road, NWT
CBC

Wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) travel corridor along Flambeau River

Warm weather leading to worst Yukon trapping season in years
Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
CBC

The Detective of Northern Oddities
When a creature mysteriously turns up dead in Alaska—be it a sea otter, polar bear, or humpback whale—veterinary pathologist Kathy Burek gets the call.
Jakolof Bay Alaska, United States
Outside Online

Spotted Seal
La Gi, Bình Thuận, Vietnam

Yukon's wild sheep could be at risk of disease outbreak
The Yukon Fish and Game Association executive director believes it's just a matter of time before a disease outbreak, such as pneumonia, could spread from domestic sheep to wild Dall sheep.
Clinton, British Columbia, Canada
CBC News

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