Background Articles

Greenhouse gas emissions provide extreme warming on Svalbard.

Underneath the ground is a thick layer of permafrost and trillions of cubic meters of natural gas. Development is the main source of concern for the reindeer herders who increasingly are hindered by new pipelines, roads and railway lines.

Norman Yakeleya is calling for an emergency meeting with the federal and territorial governments to discuss the threat of chronic wasting disease (CWD) with the potential to decimate northern caribou herds.

The Arctic Sounder - Serving the Northwest Arctic and the North Slope

2018 was the busiest season on record for human/bear conflicts in Yukon. Officials say relocating bears isn't a solution, and people have to do more to avoid attracting bears.

A new study shows loss of habitat in Canada’s Peace-Athabasca Delta is likely responsible for the decline of semi-aquatic muskrat, and could have larger implications.

With their habitat shrinking, brown bears in Baile Tusnad, Romania, have turned to scavenging. Residents sit and gawk, environmentalists want to protect the animals, but hunters just want to hunt.

Polar bears, black bears, and grizzlies have been found together for the first time during a University of Saskatchewan research project in northern Manitoba.

Several hundred thousand Arctic foxes are estimated to remain worldwide, but the population in Norway, Sweden and Finland has plummeted to just 250.

Researchers examined 179 radio-marked young moose over the course of a four-month period. Of those calves they screened, 125—or nearly 70 percent—of the moose calves died. The researchers suspect this is primarily because of the winter tick.

The news isn’t getting any better for New Hampshire’s moose, as the population explosion of winter ticks driven by warmer winters continues to take a toll.

While calm winds and sunny skies over the past few weeks were excellent for many outdoor activities, they were not ideal for hunting. The fall moose hunt in game management units 17B and 17C ended Sept. 15. Harvest reports are still trickling in, and, so far, the numbers are low.

Five aerial photos of moose in the Adirondacks

Leptospirosis infections, caused by Leptospira bacteria, occur in people and animals around the world, but different strains of the bacteria may vary in their ability to cause disease and to jump between species. Now, researchers have for the first time described the characteristics of the Leptospira variants that infect cattle in Uruguay.

Zarantonelli et al. 2018. Isolation of pathogenic Leptospira strains from naturally infected cattle in Uruguay reveals high serovar diversity, and uncovers a relevant risk for human leptospirosis. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 12 (9): e0006694 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0006694

For millennia, ecosystems in Greenland and throughout the Arctic have been regulated by seasonal changes that govern the greening of vegetation and the migration and reproduction of animals. But a rapidly warming climate and disappearing sea ice are upending that finely tuned balance.

Extreme heat events wreak havoc on marine ecosystems and will only get worse in coming decades.

In Gachuurt Village in Bayanzurkh district, beavers are being introduced to restore the headwaters of the Tuul River, the main drinking water source of the capital city, Ulaanbaatar.

Wild and free. That’s the new life for a herd of 31 plains bison which have finally been fully reintroduced to the backcountry of Banff National Park for the first time in 140 years.“These are not a captive display herd.

Ten caribou herds in Canada's West are on the verge of dying out. For one amateur filmmaker who spent a decade documenting what he thought would be a conservation success story, the recent decline is like a 'huge kick in the gut.'

From floods to fires, drought to coastal erosion, climate change is already having an impact on Canada's communities, landscapes and wildlife