Background Articles

Golovin was hurt worse than other places in the Norton Sound region by the remnants of typhoon Merbok as it swirled up through Bering Sea last weekend. Repairing the damage is going to take time — and the clock is ticking on winter’s arrival.

Smoke from a Siberian wildfire may have transported enough nitrogen to parts of the Arctic Ocean to amplify a phytoplankton bloom.

A six-inch butter clam harvested on August 28 three miles north of Savoonga tested positive for saxitoxins, or paralytic shellfish poison, Norton Sound Health Corporation Environmental Coordinator Emma Pate said.The clam itself showed high levels of saxitoxin present: it had 450 micrograms of toxin per 100 gram of body tissue. The Food and Drug Administration’s safety limit is at 80 micrograms/100 g. Pate, via the SEATOR lab, on Sept. 23 issued a paralytic shellfish toxin advisory to Savoonga and Gambell.

Researchers have found a high level of potentially harmful algae in the waters near Teller, Brevig Mission, Wales, Little Diomede and Shishmaref. They are now advising that residents of those areas…

King crab legs for $199 a pound? There’s a reason for that.

There is still thick sea-ice on the Northern Sea Route as the Russian oil carriers sail along the remote Arctic coasts.

As big fish crop up in unexpected places, experts say that they're relocating to new environments as waters warm.

NOAA Fisheries working with partners to determine the causes of death, and assess impacts.

A newly published study shows the presence of chemical pollutants in marine mammals and reindeer hunted by St. Lawrence Island villagers.

The temperature on the delar of Svalbard has risen to twice as fast as the time period known. No can forecast at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute document the greatest warming in the world.

On Thursday, for the first time, the sheen was reported in Krestof Sound, an area where Pacific herring are known to spawn in the spring.

Researchers documented the formation of new, irregularly shaped, steep-sided depressions. The largest was an oval-shaped depression 28 meters (92 feet) deep, 225 meters (738 feet) long, and 95 meters (312 feet) wide. The research team attributes these changes to intermittent seafloor collapse due to the gradual warming of the permafrost sediment frozen beneath the Arctic Shelf since the end of the last ice age.

With marine heat waves helping to wipe out some of Alaska’s storied salmon runs in recent years, officials have resorted to sending emergency food shipments to affected communities while scientists warn that the industry’s days of traditional harvests may be numbered. Salmon all but disappeared from the 2,000-mile (3,200-kilometer) Yukon River run last year.

When hurricanes cause both extreme high tides and heavy rains, devastating floods ensue. Such storms will get much more frequent by the end of the century, according to a new study.

The Skagway Traditional Council is asking harvesters to avoid blue mussels until the population rebounds.

The troublesome shipping on the Northern Sea Route continues into the new year. Almost three weeks after the world's most powerful icebreaker arrived in the Chukchi Sea, none of the four vessels stuck in the area have broken out of the ice.

In 2021, the average temperature in Norway was normal, while precipitation was 10 percent below normal. The year is nevertheless marked by great contrasts. The summary of the weather in 2021 was presented at the Meteorological Institute's annual event Climate Status on 5 January. Here you can see video footage of Climate Status (Vimeo)

Deglaciation could increase salmon habitat by nearly 30% in the Gulf of Alaska by 2100.

It has been an Arctic odyssey for the ships and crews that in November got stuck in sea-ice on the remote Northern Sea Route. After a month of icy captivity and subsequent icebreaker rescue, a convoy of nine vessels this week made it to safety in the Kara Sea. On December 7, a Russian nuclear icebreaker completed

The lab tests samples from 17 communities in Southeast, as well as from tribes on Kodiak Island.