Background Articles

Climate change has been observed for hundreds of years by the plant specialists of three Odawa Tribes in the Upper Great Lakes along Lake Michigan. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is the focus of two National Park Service (NPS) studies of Odawa Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of plants, ecosystems, and climate change. Data collected during these studies contributed to developing Plant Gathering Agreements between tribes and parks. This analysis derived from 95 ethnographic interviews conducted by University of Arizona (UofA) anthropologists in partnership with tribal appointed representatives. Odawa people recognized in the park 288 plants and five habitats of traditional and contemporary concern. Tribal representatives explained that 115 of these traditional plants and all five habitats are known from multigenerational eyewitness accounts to have been impacted by climate change. The TEK study thus represents what Native people know about the environment. These research findings are neither intended to test their TEK nor the findings of Western science.

Questions still linger about what caused the bear to kill a woman and her baby — but more important for Wales is the question of how to move on.

Take a typical Alaska cruise and see the damage in its wake. Waste-water disposal to on board garbage piles up leaking into the natural environment and local waste sites. Noise pollution from the ships impact whales and other species that rely on sounds for communication. Total visitors from the industry impact on small communities has pros and cons. The evidence is clear: the industry needs an overhaul.

World leaders already have many options to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and protect people, according to the United Nations report.

Trapped in all that permafrost is an estimated 30 billion tons of carbon. It’s an unfathomable amount, Kirkwood says. With global warming, the permafrost is thawing, threatening to release a “carbon bomb” of heat-trapping methane gas into the atmosphere. But there’s something else lurking in the permafrost that has the potential to be more immediately dangerous to the people and wildlife living in the area: mercury.

Oulu has more than 900 kilometres of separated bike paths, which is comparable to Montreal. In the winter, the city plows this huge bike network by 6 a.m. every day and will plow multiple times a day if needed.

A video of the reindeer on the steps of the wind turbine has caused wonder. Aren't the animals intimidated by wind power anyway? Here are some reasons why it is so difficult to find clear facts and secure figures.

Environmental and climate activists are rallying online against ConocoPhillips’ proposed Willow oil and gas drilling project in Alaska’s Arctic as the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden weighs whether to greenlight the controversial plan.

Amid an explosion in popularity, access points to the Chugach State Park are overwhelmed and underdeveloped, leading to a push for a new mechanism to handle chronic underfunding.

In the last week, rapid ice melting on the crater lake (Öskjuvatn), usually frozen solid at this time of year, indicated significant geothermal energy being expended, and pointed to at least the increased possibility of an ash eruption at Askja.The police chief in East Iceland encourages people in the region to increase their awareness of a possible eruption of Askja and to familiarise themselves with instructions.

Researchers found that the seismic waves get amplified as they bounce back and forth off the sides and bottom of the sedimentary basin near Minto. So people in the flats perceive the earthquakes as bigger than they actually are and it’s all about the reverberation.

There’s an old saying that captures the essence of subsistence harvesting: “When the tide is out, the table is set.” Clams, mussels and other food are available for the person. Climate change has impacted subsistence in the ocean and on the land. Community members share observations on changes.

Old Tjikko is 9500 years old, one of the oldest fir tree in the world.

The pack killed all the black-tailed deer on the island and another established pack back on the mainland was preventing their return. Scientists assumed they would die off from starvation.

Time and time again, they have cut down forests that should not have been cut, according to a review made by NRK. Yet no company has lost its sustainability stamp.

The decision caps a decades-long battle over a region that is home to both the world’s largest wild salmon run and one of the world’s largest deposits of copper and gold.

Dunleavy administration’s proposals, which could take years to implement, highlights economic gains for the state for carbon offset and sequestration programs.

The potential impact on caribou and the way of life in Northwest Arctic if Ambler Mining District is opened.

A recent Interior Department grant aims to help residents in Newtok move to higher ground, but it’s just a sliver of what’s needed.

The arctic fox population across the Nordic region has declined for decades, but recent data suggests cross-border cooperation between Finland, Norway and Sweden is helping turn things around. Arctic Fox dens and cub population is highest in all three countries.