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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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Observations

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
Alaska Public Media

Arctic rivers face big changes with warming climate, permafrost thaw and accelerating water cycle
Arctic rivers are undergoing significant changes due to a warming climate, with increased precipitation and permafrost thaw leading to stronger flows and altered chemical compositions.
The Arctic
Alaska Beacon

What is causing the rusting of northern Alaska streams?
The oranging of northern rivers seems to be related to recent permafrost thaw that has allowed streams to release previously captive iron, trace metals and acid.
Kougarok, River
Anchorage Daily News

Conservationists ask feds to protect rare Kigluaik buttercup flower
Conservationists petition for federal protection of the rare Kigluaik buttercup, threatened by climate change and proposed mining activities.
Kigluaik Mountains, Alaska
The Nome Nugget

NASA climate satellite blasts off to survey oceans and atmosphere of a warming Earth
NASA's PACE satellite, designed to study ocean biology in unprecedented detail, has been successfully launched to enhance understanding of Earth's changing climate and improve weather forecasting.
Florida, United States
AP News

Alaska's Arctic and boreal ecosystems see climate change-driven 'microbial awakening'
Climate change is causing a 'microbial awakening' in Alaska's ecosystems, altering food webs as fungi become a major energy source for small mammals.
Alaska Arctic
Alaska Public Media

As the permafrost melts, the houses in Nunapitchuk are breaking down
Melting permafrost in Nunapitchuk is causing severe structural damage to homes, leading to erosion, instability, and health issues for residents.
Nunapitchuk, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

As Conoco's Willow project advances, 2 local governments have withdrawn their criticism
Two local governments have retracted their criticism of Conoco's Willow project, now focusing on protecting subsistence resources and leveraging project opportunities.
Nuiqsut, Alaska, United States

Degrading permafrost likely caused Diomede city building’s collapse
The collapse of Diomede city's building, suspected to be caused by melting permafrost, has led to emergency measures and online schooling as efforts to stabilize and dismantle the structure proceed.
Diomede, Alaska, United States
The Nome Nugget

Alaska communities must adapt as climate change transforms state, federal report says
Alaska communities are facing significant challenges due to climate change, including the disappearance of snow crabs, threats to subsistence hunting and fishing, and difficulties in processing and storing food, but some communities are taking action and developing local climate adaptation plans with the support of funding and collaboration between different governments and agencies.
Alaska, United States

Extreme flooding on Alaska’s Arctic highway caused thaw-induced sinking in later years
Extreme flooding on Alaska's Arctic highway in 2015 caused thaw-induced sinking in the permafrost terrain up to 3 inches deep, with the most significant effects occurring in ice-rich areas, according to a newly published study.
Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, United States

New study hints at huge price tag from permafrost thaw in Alaska
A new study suggests that more than 75% of Earth's near-surface permafrost will be gone by the end of the century, leading to major implications for cold-climate regions like Alaska where permafrost covers the majority of the state and thawing is already well underway, resulting in sinking and unstable infrastructure and significant costs for adaptation.
Fairbanks, Alaska, United States

New Ambler Road draft expands on potential problems
The U.S. Department of the Interior released a 1,200-page supplemental environmental impact study (EIS) on the proposed Ambler Access Road in Alaska, which reveals potentially greater social and environmental impacts than previously thought, including concerns about disrupting traditional hunting and fishing lifestyles and causing permafrost thaw.
Ambler, Alaska, United States
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

U.S. Energy Department climate scientist visits Utqiaġvik to highlight permafrost and climate change research
A U.S. Energy Department climate scientist visited UtqiaÄ¡vik to evaluate research progress on permafrost and climate change, highlighting the importance of accurate measurements and models in predicting future climate patterns in the Arctic.
Utqiaġvik, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

Research team reveals new results of bottom sediments and subsea permafrost temperatures in the Russian Arctic shelf
A research team has discovered that bottom sediment temperatures in the Russian Arctic shelf vary across different regions, with the Kara Sea having higher temperatures due to warm currents and large Siberian rivers, and the Laptev Sea and East Siberian Sea having the lowest temperatures and thicker subsea permafrost, which is important for understanding the degradation of permafrost and methane emissions in the region.
Kara Sea
Phys.org

Sinking Permafrost Sinks Pipelines In Russia And Canada
Melting permafrost will increase the maintenance costs for critical infrastructure by $15.5 billion by mid-century but unable to prevent some $21.6 billion in damages. Nearly 70% of current infrastructure located on permafrost is at risk, including major oil and gas fields, pipelines, and mines.
Forbes

Residents, engineers and scientists discuss permafrost thaw
The Permafrost and Infrastructure Symposium this month brought together over 50 scientists, engineers and residents this month, creating a space for them to exchange their perspectives on the effects of thawing permafrost in the Arctic.
Utqiaġvik, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

Secrets of the Lorino cliff
Scientists from Moscow State University have studied the Lorino cliff in the Chukotka region and discovered that the rapid retreat of the coast is due to the reduction of sea ice, and they recommend that villagers prepare for the transfer of coastal structures further inland.
Lorino, Chukotskiy Avtonomnyy Okrug, Russia

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

Québec funds research to adapt Nunavik public housing to thawing permafrost
The Quebec government has allocated over $2 million to research and develop a plan to adapt public housing in Nunavik to the effects of thawing permafrost, which can cause damage to units built on jacks.
Inukjuak, Quebec, Canada
CBC

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

A large fish that fills freezers in Northwest Alaska could be in danger
Following a thaw slump, the water becomes cloudy and full of sediment, potentially suffocating the eggs of spawning sheefish. Scientists are concerned that permafrost thaw could lead to declines in the sheefish population, a staple food for many Alaskans.
Kotzebue, Alaska, United States

As Arctic warms, female arctic ground squirrels end hibernation before males – a mismatch with consequences
As Alaskan permafrost warms, hibernating arctic ground squirrels generate less heat, causing females to emerge from hibernation up to 10 days before their male counterparts – a mismatch that could have large, cascading ecological impacts. While reduced thermogenesis due to warming temperatures could allow the squirrels to conserve energy and, thus, increase winter survival, a shortened hibernation season could also increase the exposure of the animals to hungry predators, altering mortality rates, particularly for earlier emerging female squirrels. The phenological mismatch between the sexes may also disrupt reproductive rates. And over longer time scales, continued warming in the Arctic may lead to changes in male squirrel seasonal behaviors, say the authors.
Alaska, United States
EurekAlert!

Rare tropical permafrost near Mauna Kea’s summit diminishing, researchers find
Rare tropical permafrost near Mauna Kea's summit is diminishing, with frozen soil patches showing signs of shrinking over time, according to researchers, who suggest there is no lasting way to prevent it from melting.
Manua Kea Volcano

A Homer scientist is bringing changes in Arctic permafrost into high-resolution
With Arctic permafrost thaw rapidly outpacing projections, researchers are racing to understand the impacts of an increasingly unstable future.
Homer, Alaska, United States

Alaska gets $38M federal grant for climate-related housing disaster recovery
The State of Alaska recently received $38 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to ease the burden of climate change. The money was made available through the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program. These funds are aimed at helping communities better rebound from presidentially declared disasters, but Salazar says the state will be allowed to allocate the new funds for preventative measures.
Alaska, United States

Hunting, visual storytelling and loss: Utqiaġvik photographer speaks at the Arctic at youth panel
Story telling provides a powerful tool in a changing climate. Epen Hobson has been experiencing the land and ocean through the perspective of an Inuit photographer and hunter. A recipient of the Arctic Resilient Communities Fellowship he shares, "We're an oral people, we tell stories, we teach by telling stories," The effects of climate change are concrete and dramatic for the Arctic communities such as Utqiagvik, and Hopson is hungry to see infrastructure and policy solutions to address them.
Utqiaġvik, Alaska, United States

A Devastating Toxin Is Bubbling Up From the Permafrost
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.
The Atlantic

This stubborn shrub is helping to keep Arctic river banks intact as permafrost thaws
A study published in Nature Climate Change examined how 10 big rivers in the Arctic had moved 50 years, and found they did not migrate as much as expected.
Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada
CBC

How far can $25 million go to relocate a community that’s disappearing into Alaska’s melting permafrost?
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.
Newtok, Alaska, United States
High Country News

Why Are Alaska's Rivers Turning Orange?
Streams in Alaska are turning orange with iron and sulfuric acid. Scientists are trying to figure out why
Kiana, Alaska, United States
Scientific American

In northernmost Alaska, a battle is on to limit the damages of permafrost thaw
Warming soils beneath Utqiagvik are triggering erosion that threatens homes, infrastructure and cultural resources. The North Slope has seen some of the fastest changes in coastal erosion in the nation.
KTOO

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

Under threat of thaw, some North Slope ice cellars will get tech upgrades to stay frozen
Iñupiat communities have been looking for alternatives to traditional ice cellars. Some households switched to using manmade freezers, which can be effective but they affect the taste and the quality of the food, Nelson said. Additionally, power outages, frequent in the villages, can make this storage method unreliable. So the search is on for creative ideas to preserve traditional ice cellars.

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