Background Articles

From the Koyukuk River, to the Kuskokwim, to Norton Sound, to Bristol Bay’s Igushik River, unusually warm temperatures across Alaska this summer led to die-offs of unspawned chum, sockeye and pink salmon. Warm waters also sometimes this summer acted as a “thermal block” — essentially a wall of heat salmon don’t swim past, delaying upriver migration.

What caused roughly 60,000 dead murres to wash ashore in Alaska? The answer to this could be very important to the murre (or turr) populations in the Atlantic.

Bees, butterflies, and other insects are under attack by the very plants they feed on as U.S. agriculture continues to use chemicals known to kill.

These changes seem to be heralding population spikes and downturns for a number of species like walleye pollock and Pacific cod, and even more pronounced in small, fatty forage species.

Salmon have been found dead in rivers across Western Alaska this summer. The largest die-off reported comes from the Koyukuk River, a tributary of the Yukon.

This ubiquitous shrub of the Pacific Northwest is dying. Some scientists theorize that a disease or fungus could be the culprit, while others point to this past winter’s unusually dry weather.

While some parts of Bristol Bay have had record-breaking years, one South Peninsula village hasn't been as lucky. After a year and a half of bad runs, Chignik Bay is worried about the survival of the community.

According to the Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists, the most frequently cited causes of bee mortality were weather, starvation, poor queens and weak colonies in the fall.

Authorities say some 300,000 bee colonies died in June and July. Experts blame pesticides — specifically neonicotinoids — but also varroa mites, the loss of natural habitat and flowers, and, more recently, climate change.

From California to Alaska, animals born during the infamous Blob are coming of age.

The inability of long-rooted trees to reach their subsurface water supply in the Sierra Nevada mountain range led to widespread forest die-offs following the drought of 2012-2015. A new study provides a better understanding of the climatic and biological mechanisms in play.

Five of the highly endangered whales have been found dead in Canadian waters over the last month. Measures have been put in place to prevent more deaths by reducing the potential for ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement.

Colonies suffered from parasitic, disease-spreading Varroa mites. Floods and fire didn’t help.

Since January 1, 2019, elevated gray whale strandings have occurred along the west coast of North America from Mexico through Alaska. This event has been declared an Unusual Mortality Event (UME).

The ‘persistent and widespread decline’ of the province’s official tree is due to drier, California-like summer droughts of two to three months.

NOAA is investigating what it’s calling “unusually large numbers” of seal deaths.

Average daytime temperatures in Guatemala have risen over the past decade, while crop-damaging frosts are more common.

Environmentalists often decry the loss of species diversity in rivers that have been dammed. But while some species lose when we meddle with rivers, others win, sometimes in dramatic and ways.

About 70 gray whales have been spotted dead so far this year along the West Coast from California to Alaska, the most in almost 20 years. Many of them appeared malnourished, according to NOAA officials.

In a paper published Wednesday, researchers theorize the die-off is at least partially attributable to the changing climate.