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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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Caution urged due to avalanche danger in Southwest Iceland
Heavy snowfall on Southwest Iceland has led the Icelandic Meteorological Office to raise the regional avalanche forecast to orange (considerable). People in the Reykjavík area are urged to avoid slopes steeper than 30 degrees, especially SW-facing slopes where wind slabs may form.
Reykjavík, Capital Region, Iceland
Vísir

Extreme avalanche seasons can spur major mountain goat population declines
New research finds that mountain goat populations require 11 years – or 1.5 generations – to recover from more extreme avalanche years.
Klukwan, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

How 'Amy' Ravaged Norway
Extreme weather 'Amy' brought destructive winds and flooding across Norway, damaging buildings and vehicles, causing landslides, and knocking out power to tens of thousands. Insurance firms received thousands of damage reports as cleanup began across multiple regions.
Bergen, Vestland, Norway
NRK

School closed due to quick clay risk
Tverrelvdalen School in Alta, Finnmark, closed on Thursday due to concerns about underlying quick clay. The municipality notified students and parents about the precautionary closure.
Alta, Finnmark, Norway
iFinnmark

Alaska was lucky to avoid disaster after a landslide and tsunami. What about next time?
The close call in Tracy Arm 50 miles south of Juneau on 10 August is the latest sign that as glaciers melt, risks may rise
Tracy Arm
the Guardian

Ketchikan Responds to Landslide that Displaced Hundreds
The City of Ketchikan is recovering from a landslide that displaced hundreds of residents, prompting swift emergency responses and community cooperation, though no injuries were reported.
Ketchikan, Alaska, United States
KTUU

Communities in Southeast Alaska are mapping their landslide risk. It's complicated.
Communities in Southeast Alaska, especially in Haines, are employing new landslide risk maps to guide future development decisions after recent deadly events and extreme weather. The science-backed tool aims to help residents and local authorities gauge areas more prone to landslides.
Haines, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

Wind and rain batter Anchorage and Mat-Su, leaving power outages across the region
A severe storm hit Anchorage and Mat-Su, causing power outages for thousands due to high winds and rain. Gusts exceeded 100 mph in higher elevations, with significant impacts across the region.
Anchorage, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

Land Uplift Continues at Steady Rate
Land uplift in Svartsengi continues at a steady rate, linked to ongoing magma accumulation, with increased volcanic activity expected.
Svartsengi, Iceland
Vísir

Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent in Alaska, and other climate report takeaways
In Southeast Alaska, the changing climate means more deadly landslides, and in Anchorage, more heavy-snowfall events, according to Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy’s report.
Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

Landslides to late freezes: New report makes sense of changes to Alaska's environment
A newly updated report titled 'Alaska's Changing Environment' explores the climatic shifts affecting Alaska, from landslides to late freezes, emphasizing the significant impact of climate change.
Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

‘Just terrifying’: As Ketchikan residents take stock after fatal landslide, geologists assess stability
The slide Sunday afternoon just above the Southeast Alaska city’s downtown sent tons of debris and mud onto a half-dozen homes, killing one person and injuring three.
Ketchikan, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

Timeline: A decade of deadly and destructive Alaska landslides
Landslides have killed at least 12 Alaskans in the past decade and destroyed homes and critical infrastructure.
Juneau, Alaska, United States

Much of Juneau's king salmon fishery will close this summer, because of a 2020 landslide
Juneau's king salmon fishery will be closed this summer due to low hatchery returns caused by a 2020 landslide that disrupted the freshwater supply and forced premature salmon release.
Juneau, Alaska, United States

Yukon First Nation calls for audit of government response to mine disaster
The First Nation of Na Cho Nyäk Dun has requested an audit by Canada's auditor general of the Yukon government's handling of the Victoria Gold mine landslide.
Yukon, Canada
Yukon News

Feds give Whitehorse $45M for 'permanent' solution to escarpment landslides
The article discusses a $45M federal investment in Whitehorse for a permanent solution to recurring escarpment landslides, highlighting the increasing threat of such events due to climate change.
Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
CBC

Tsunami program that informs Alaskans of the danger is itself at risk
It funds maps, sirens and education. "Losing this program, really, at the end of the day could mean deaths in Alaska," says a state official.
Cordova, Alaska, United States

New work season opens for Denali Park Road bridge
The $100 million Pretty Rocks Bridge will cross the site of a landslide that has closed the road at Mile 45 since 2021.
Denali Park

Landslide-triggered tsunamis can strike without warning. Alaska researchers are trying to change that.
Alaska researchers are developing a method to detect landslide-triggered tsunamis, aiming to provide early warnings for such unpredictable events.
Alaska, United States

Technology that detects volcanoes and nuclear explosions will listen for avalanches in Juneau
An infrasound avalanche detection system, previously used for monitoring volcanoes and nuclear tests, is being installed in Juneau to improve avalanche mitigation and road safety.
Juneau, Alaska, United States

Chugach forecasters warn of dangerous avalanche conditions after 1 death, 2 close calls
Chugach forecasters issue warnings of high avalanche danger following a fatal incident and two non-fatal close calls in the mountains.
Girdwood, Alaska, United States
Chris Klint, Alaska Public Media - Anchorage

Alaska state geologists’ report on fatal landslide in Wrangell cites heavy rainfall as trigger
The state is seeking new support from FEMA and other partners to expand studies of landslide risks on Wrangell Island and elsewhere in Alaska.
Wrangell, Alaska, United States

Juneau’s deadliest landslide tore through downtown like a ‘mighty grinder.’ Now it’s a fading memory.
Juneau's history of deadly landslides, particularly the 1936 disaster that killed multiple residents, is a testament to the region's susceptibility to such events, which may increase with changing weather patterns.

‘We’re always going to be surprised’: Wrangell’s tragedy highlights Alaska’s lack of landslide monitoring
The Wrangell landslide tragedy underscores Alaska's challenge in landslide prediction due to insufficient monitoring and data collection.
Wrangell, Alaska, United States

Husband of sole Wrangell landslide survivor found dead in search
Otto Florschutz, a candidate in the 2022 U.S. House special election, was found dead following a landslide in Wrangell, Alaska, that also claimed the lives of four members of the Heller family.
Wrangell, Alaska, United States

Road damage after rain
Evacuations due to the risk of landslides were lifted at Seyðisfjörður this morning. Rain in Neskaupstaður yesterday was on a once-in-a-century scale. Some roads have been badly damaged.
Neskaupstaður, East, Iceland
RÚV

As the climate warms, the face of Denali National Park changes
The damage wrought to the park’s road by melting permafrost is creating a new reality affecting visitors, park staff, local businesses and potentially wildlife.
Denali National Park, Alaska

Mountains frozen for thousands of years are collapsing as global temperatures rise
Scientists say that rising global temperatures are causing collapsing mountains as ancient permafrost begins to thaw.
Brienz, Bern, Switzerland
BGR

Drones could make Juneau’s avalanche monitoring faster and more precise
The new project with drone maker DJI will try to get a bigger picture than fieldwork trips with more frequent, automated drone flights.

Partial Easing of Evacuation Orders in East Fjords Announced
About 800 people have had to leave their homes due to the risk of avalanches in East Iceland.
Seyðisfjörður, East, Iceland
Iceland Review

Haines’ changing alpine permafrost
Alpine permafrost is thawing, according to an article by the National Science Foundation. This is bad news because thawing releases carbon dioxide and methane and because it can cause destabilization of the land, as a couple of northbound drivers found out last week when their car was buried in the slide at 23 miles, as reported in a Chilkat Valley News article.
Haines, Alaska, United States
KHNS Radio | KHNS FM

The Last Ice
In Norway, glaciers are receding faster than ever and potentially will be eliminated by climate change in key tourist destinations.
Norway
NRK

Rockslides in the Arctic: Why do we care?
Global climate warming is most severe in the Arctic. One consequence is a widespread reduction in permafrost. Continuous, stable permafrost can act as a physical glue that helps anchor unstable slopes. Increasingly, scientists are reporting collapse of rock slopes in the High Arctic.
Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Svalbard and Jan Mayen
The Independent Barents Observer

Probe into beach landslide as officials look at cliff collapse cause
Tons of mud and rock have plunged onto a beach just yards away from homes at Rhodfa Mor on the Gwynedd coast. Another landslide happened in the same area around a month ago, which allegedly caused a tree to crash through a bedroom window.
Wales, United Kingdom
North Wales Live

Thaw-triggered landslides are a growing hazard in the warming North
Midway along the 92-mile road that winds through Denali National Park, at a spot with an elevation of 3,500 feet and spectacular views of the Alaska Range and the braided rivers that flow out of it, an unstable wall of rock, ice, soil and clay rises precariously. The slope into which the road was cut eight decades ago is already collapsing gradually — and there are fears that it could collapse much more suddenly in the future.
ArcticToday

Uttarakhand glacier avalanche raises alarm for similar devastation for Nepal sooner or later
On Sunday torrents of water, rock and dust hurtled down a mountain valley in the Uttarakhand state of Northern India. A Himalayan glacier broke below 7,816-metre Nanda Devi, India’s second-highest peak, sweeping away a small hydroelectric project and damaging a bigger one further downstream. One hundred to 150 people were feared dead.
Nanda Devi
Katmandu Post

Evacuations In Siglufjörður Due to Risk of Avalanche
The Department of Civil Protection has raised the level of alert from Uncertain to Dangerous, due to a risk of avalanches. This morning it was found that an avalanche had fallen on the Skarðsdalur Ski area. Nine houses in Siglufjörður will be evacuated.
Siglufjörður, Northeast, Iceland
Iceland Review

– Me er ein kommune i kneståande som har ein lang veg opp
Barnehage, sjukeheim, rådhus, legesenter, barneskule, vass- og avløpssystem, eit bustadfelt og ei av hovudfartsårene inn til Gjerdrum er sett ut av spel.
Ask, Akershus, Norway
NRK

Clean-up underway in devastated Seyðisfjörður
Residents of Seyðisfjörður in East Iceland have been returning home this weekend, and it will become clear today whether people from the part of the town that was first evacuated will also be allowed to return home now that the intense rain that caused devastating mudslides in the town, destroying or damaging a dozen houses and completely changing the appearance of the town and the fjord, has passed.
Seyðisfjörður, East, Iceland
RÚV

Parts of Eskifjörður Also To Be Evacuated Due To Risk of Mudslides
The National Police Commissioner has raised the level of alert for the town. After a week of extreme rainfall, devastating landslides have hit the town of Seyðisfjörður in east Iceland.
Seyðisfjörður, East, Iceland
Iceland Review

Governor declares a disaster for storm-damaged Southeast
Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Saturday signed a disaster declaration.
Juneau Empire

Dozens of Haines residents evacuated from their homes as rain and landslides continue
Dozens more homes in Haines were evacuated Thursday night as rain continued to saturate the mountainsides near residential neighborhoods.
Haines, Alaska, United States
KHNS Haines

Changing climate means more landslides in future, scientists say in wake of Haines disaster
The region is prime landslide territory and a changing climate - trending toward warmer, rainier winters - is likely to increase the frequency of slides in the future.
Chilkat Valley News

Here goes the landslide in Alta: – I ran for my life
Jan Egil Bakkeby had to flee for his life when he suddenly heard it start to crack in the cabin. Soon after, he witnessed the entire building being washed up on water.
Vuorašnjárga
VG

In Juneau snow and rain, temperature swings are formula for higher avalanche risk
Looking at each snow layer tells a story about the winter.

In the High Arctic, researchers find permafrost thaws are changing the landscape
In the Eureka Sound Lowlands on Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg islands, the permafrost is more than half a kilometre deep, and the average air temperature is –19.7 C. But higher summer temperatures have caused the earth to collapse.
Eureka Sound Lowlands, Ellesmere and Axel Heiberg Islands
CBC

Permafrost is thawing in the Arctic so fast that scientists are losing their equipment
Permafrost in some areas of the Canadian Arctic is thawing so fast that it's gulping up the equipment left there to study it.
Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada
CBC

Thawing permafrost is triggering thousands of landslides across the Arctic
Climate change has caused a 60-fold increase in active landslides on one Canadian Arctic island.
The Conversation

A slippery slope: How climate change is reshaping the Arctic landscape
Increasing ground temperatures in the Arctic are indicators of global climate change, but until recently, areas of cold permafrost were thought to be relatively immune to severe impacts. A new study by Antoni Lewkowicz, a professor in the Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics at the University of Ottawa and published in the journal Nature Communications, however, shows that areas of cold permafrost can be vulnerable to rising summer temperatures.
Aulavik National Park, Banks Island, Northwest Territories
Phys.org

State to close site of popular water pipe on Seward Highway
Officials cited rockfall danger and traffic hazards created by people stopping to fill containers.
Knik, Alaska, United States

Colorado avalanche expert: 'Perfect storm' creating historic avalanche season
Colorado has seen more 2,500 avalanches this season, some larger than any on record.
Ouray, Colorado, United States
Coloradoan

Thawing of Earth 3rd pole; could affect 1.9 billion people, study says
At least a third of the ice in the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush will thaw this century as temperatures rise, disrupting river flows vital for growing crops from China to India, scientists say.
Hindu Kush Himalaya

Survived the landslide accident in Svalbard. Now comes the twins' story of living with climate change.
From Longyearbyen to Kiribati, Bangladesh and California. Author Teresa Grøtan has collected young people's everyday life with climate change in the book "Before the Island Sink."
Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Svalbard and Jan Mayen
Aftenposten

Photos: How climate change is transforming Canada
From floods to fires, drought to coastal erosion, climate change is already having an impact on Canada's communities, landscapes and wildlife
Canada
Canadian Geographic

Karrat Fjord, Greenland Landslide & Tsunami
huge tsunami occurred in the Karrat Fjord on the west coast of Greenland, resulting in severe property damage and casualties in the tiny fishing village of Nuugaatsiaq. The seismic energy detected prior to the tsunami was so large it was first thought to have been the result of a magnitude 4.1 earthquake. However, the cause was a massive landslide on a steep slope of the fjord where millions of cubic meters of rock plunged into the water below, 32 kilometers northeast of the village. Forty-five structures, including eleven houses, were washed away or destroyed, and four people were killed.
Nuugaatsiaq, Qaasuitsup, Greenland
International Tsunami Information Center

Avalanches are a leading cause of death for Southeast Alaska's mountain goats
New research from the University of Alaska Southeast shows the scale of mountain goat mortality from avalanches for the first time.

'Sensitive clay' behind massive northern Quebec landslide
IThe Great Whale River landslide, which happened about eight kilometres upstream from the Cree and Inuit villages of Whapmagoostui and Kuujjuarapik, was too far south to be caused by melting permafrost, and too deep to be caused by variations in the climate, says a landslide expert.
Whapmagoostui, Quebec, Canada

The Big Thaw - Alaska becomes the nation's first frontier of climate disruption
Most of Alaska sits atop permafrost. But the ground is thawing, leading to unexpected and sometimes catastrophic outcomes — what scientists have called a “slow disaster.”
Selawik, Alaska, United States
Type Investigations

New dashboard warns Sitkans of landslide risk
A landslide warning system developed in Sitka is now available to the public as an online dashboard, and work is underway to export the project to other communities in Southeast Alaska.
Sitka, Alaska, United States

Haines disaster considered 200-500 year storm event
An assessment by geotechnical experts will need to be completed in order to know the stability of the slide and understand continuing risk.
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Updated Juneau maps add buildings to avalanche risk areas
The Associated Press

The Science of landslide risk
"Talk of Alaska discusses the science behind landslide risk and early warning systems in the wake of Wrangell's third deadly landslide since 2015."

Flood risk higher due to rising freezing levels and rain melting snowpack
Weather systems that carry warm air inland, bringing not just rain, but also pushing up freezing levels, causing rapid snowpack melting. The atmospheric river hitting B.C.'s central coast will also pose a risk in the Interior.
Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada
Castanet

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