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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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California forest die-off caused by depletion of deep-soil water: Study warns of threats from future concurrent drought and heat events
The inability of long-rooted trees to reach their subsurface water supply in the Sierra Nevada mountain range led to widespread forest die-offs following the drought of 2012-2015. A new study provides a better understanding of the climatic and biological mechanisms in play.
Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, United States
ScienceDaily

Mexico struggles to understand, solve, seaweed invasion
Mexico has spent US$17 million to remove over a half-million tons of sargassum seaweed from its Caribbean beaches, and the problem doesn't seem likely to end any time soon.
Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico
CTVNews

Western red cedars are dying of drought and scientists say it’s one more portent of climate change
The ‘persistent and widespread decline’ of the province’s official tree is due to drier, California-like summer droughts of two to three months.
Southwestern British Columbia, Canada
The Star

The Wettest Part of Alaska Is Experiencing Extreme Drought. Is Climate Change to Blame?
The drought has had damaging economic and ecological impacts.
Ketchikan, Alaska, United States
Pacific Standard

Why seaweed is strangling Mexican tourism, and how science could help
Sargassum is infesting Mexico’s coastline. Researchers are scrambling to stop an ecological crisis, and maybe even make something good of it.
Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico
MIT Technology Review

Cedar die off impacts many on Vancouver Island
The die off of Western Red Cedar trees on East Vancouver Island due to drought and severe weather has First Nations extremely worried. Cedar is a critical part of first nations culture and as Skye Ryan reports, there is growing concern the dying trees will have a ripple down effect.
Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada
CHEK

Western red cedars die off as extended dry spells continue
Some Western red cedars are struggling after repeated bouts of drought conditions and experts say expect the tree to vanish for good in spots with shallow, dry, rocky soil.
Coastal British Columbia, Canada
CBC

Climate change forces reindeer to resort to eating seaweed
Researchers have determined that, when ground ice is thicker, reindeer make for the coast. They don't eat kelp when they don't have to.
Svalbard
News Atlas

Canadian researchers warn of 'cascading impacts' as bumblebee species decline
A team of researchers at York University has warned that the American bumblebee is facing imminent extinction from Canada, and this could lead to “cascading impacts” throughout the country.
Canada
CBC

Wild bee species critical to pollination on the decline
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — More than a dozen wild bee species critical to pollinating everything from blueberries to apples in New England are on the decline, according to a new study. Researchers...
Concord, New Hampshire, United States
AP NEWS

100 months of temperature above normal in Svalbard
March becomes the hundredth month in a row with temperatures above normal. "It is unique and shows how fast climate change is happening in the Arctic," says climate scientist Ketil Isaksen at the Meteorological Institute (MET).
Svalbard and Jan Mayen
Meteorologisk institutt

Grass crops in Eastern Norway halved in 2018
Last year's drought summer resulted in halved grass crops in Eastern Norway compared to the previous year, according to recent figures from Statistics Norway. - The consequences of the drought continue to affect the daily lives of many farmers, says Lars Petter Bartnes, leader of the Norwegian Farmers' Union.
Akershus, Norway
Norges Bondelag

The changing world of Mongolia's boreal forests
Insects that eat leaves and needles are causing increasing damage in Mongolian forests. The Siberian silk moth and the gypsy moth are the most destructive.
Mongolia
MONTSAME News Agency

El Niño Triggered Disease Outbreaks Across Globe
The 2015 to 2016 El Niño event brought weather conditions that triggered regional disease outbreaks throughout the world.
Tropical Pacific Ocean
Laboratory Equipment

Greenhouse gas emissions provide extreme warming in Svalbard
Greenhouse gas emissions provide extreme warming on Svalbard.
Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Svalbard and Jan Mayen
Miljodirektoratet

Building blocks of ocean food web in rapid decline as plankton productivity plunges
Basic ocean food critical for the whole ecosystem is in dramatic decline and scientists don't know exactly why.
Western North Atlantic
CBC

As Seas Warm, Galápagos Islands Face a Giant Evolutionary Test
Climate change is ravaging the natural laboratory that inspired Darwin. The creatures here are on the brink of crisis.
Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
New York Times

Lilacs (Syringa spp.) Blooming Earlier
Agriculture, a huge industry in upstate New York, will clearly benefit from a longer growing season. However, the increase in intensity and frequency of rainfall will impede farmers. Higher nighttime temperatures could affect flowering
Highland Park, Rochester, New York, United States
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

Critically Low Monarch Population in California
The California overwintering population has been reduced to less than 0.5% of its historical size, and has declined by 86% compared to 2017.
California, United States
The Xerces Society

Climate Change Is Fueling Wildfires Nationwide
Global warming has already resulted in more forest fires out West, according to the latest National Climate Assessment. The future could see more of the country burn.
Western United States
New York Times

The Arctic is turning brown because of weird weather
Extreme climatic events are harming plant communities in the Arctic. The resulting colour change is bad news for the region's carbon storage.
Lofoten Islands, Norway
The Conversation

Storms increasing & violent
A new report points to harsher more severe weather incidents happening in our province.
British Columbia
Castanet

Sea stars still wasting away in B.C. waters
Reports that the sea star population was rebounding appear to have been overly optimistic, says the Coastal Ocean Research Institute.
Canada's Pacific Marine Ecosystems
Vancouver Sun

Loads of seaweed are threatening the Caribbean’s sea life and tourism. Experts say we may be to blame
Scientists say the threat from sargassum is as serious as rising sea levels and hurricanes.
Quintana Roo, Mexico
Washington Post

As Greenland Warms, Nature’s Seasonal Clock Is Thrown Off-Kilter
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.
Kangerlussuaq, Qeqqata, Greenland
Yale E360

Death Knell For Ash Trees
The Western New York landscape is now strewn with dead and dying Ash trees. The evidence of the Ash Borer's destruction is crystal clear, and our environment may never be the same.
Angola, New York, United States
WGRZ

Changements climatiques: la forêt boréale va fructifier, puis décliner
Climate change: the boreal forest will grow, then decline: The acceleration of growth will be fueled by warming in the north of the boreal forest, while the south (Abitibi, Lac-Saint-Jean, Gaspésie) will suffer from a lack of water.
Quebec, Canada
Le Devoir

Scientist warns of "seagrass crisis" in Caribbean
Scientist warns of "seagrass crisis" in Caribbeans MEXICO CITY (Rahnuma): Massive quantities of Sargassum seaweed are invading Caribbean beaches mostly thanks to global warming and countries should work closely with scientists for a sustainable solution, said a researcher at a leading Mexican university on
Ecuador
The Rahnuma Daily

102 fires burning in B.C.’s southeast region
More than 100 fires are burning in B.C.'s Southeast Fire Region, with half of them caused from a lightning storm earlier in the week.
Southeast British Columbia, Canada
Global News

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

State drops invasive insect defense zone for ash trees
ALBANY - After years of trying to slow a voracious Chinese beetle that is decimating ash trees, state environmental officials are waving the white flag: The Department of Environmental Conservation dropped a logging quarantine, and said it might be time to cut healthy trees still uninfested.
In a brief notice posted online Wednesday, the DEC repealed logging restrictions that had failed to contain the spread of the emerald ash borer (EAB) by limiting shipments of ash.
The state created the quarantine in 2015 to slow the insect, which is a shiny green beetle about the size of a penny. The borer likely will ultimately bring about the end of the state's 700 million ash trees - down from earlier estimates of 900 million ash trees before the beetles' arrival - and forever change an industry that uses ash to produce bats for major league baseball.
Dolgeville, New York, United States
Times Union

The Decline of Yellow Cedar in Alaska’s Temperate Rainforest
Culturally vital, ecologically unique, and economically valuable, the yellow cedar’s fate is closely tied to snow
Poison Cove, Alaska, United States
Earth Island Journal

Endangered plant thrives after Sidney Spit restoration
Coastal sand ecosystem returning to health after 1.5 years of work
Sidney Spit National Marine Park, Canada
Saanich News

Climate Change draws invasive species to the Arctic
Warmer temperatures and declining sea ice pulls foreign animals and plants to the Arctic, with drastic consequences for these sensitive ecosystems.
Nuuk, Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq, Greenland
ScienceNordic

Climate change in the Rockies could make this Colorado wildflower vanish forever
Creamy jasmine wildflowers once common in the Colorado high country may be vanishing as climate change brings warmer and drier conditions.
Crested Butte, Colorado, United States
The Denver Post

Climate change threatens hairy survivor of multiple ice ages
A scientific paper published recently hints at how increasing winter rainfall will affect the Arctic muskox. An N.W.T. biologist says winter rain isn't good for the mammal, but it's actually warmer summers that could prove detrimental.
Northwest Territories, Canada
CBC News

Vancouver Island marmot facing a new threat: creeping treeline
Habitat of the endangered Vancouver Island marmot is disappearing as the warming climate allows trees to grow higher up mountainsides, turning alpine meadows into forest. Adam Taylor, executive . . .
Nanaimo Lakes area, British Columbia, Canada
Times Colonist

Ten Alaskans were sickened by raw or undercooked walrus. A parasite was in the meat, CDC says.
Serious and unusual outbreaks of illness from eating raw or undercooked walrus to call attention to the risks.
St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, United States
Alaska Dispatch News

How Climate Change is Spurring Wildfires in Alaska and NWT
Longer hot, dry spells in the boreal forests that stretch across Alaska and the Northwest Territories create the conditions for wildfires triggered by lightning strikes.
Elliott Highway, 48km (30 miles) NW of Fairbanks, Alaska, United States
Arctic Deeply

Climate Destabilization Causing Thousands of New Species Migrations: Plant, Animal, Insect, Bird
In the Arctic, brown bears (Ursus arctos) are expanding their range northward, in some cases competing with and even mating with polar bears (*Ursus maritimus*). Beavers (*Castor canadensis*) have been found as far north as the coast of the Beaufort Sea. The list includes mammals, amphibians, fish and insects.
Beaufort Sea, Arctic Ocean
EnviroNews DC News Bureau

Effects of weather variability on maple syrup production studied
Some farmers in the United States and Canada have noticed that the quantity and quality of their maple syrup is changing with climate variability. Now researchers who are investigating these observations.
United States and Canada, Universal State Boundary, North America
ScienceDaily

Pushki making its presence felt on peninsula
A family trip in the Alaska wilderness can turn sour in a hurry if the proper precautions are not taken against the unassuming but dangerous plant known as “pushki.”
Seward, Alaska, United States
Peninsula Clarion

The secret killer in your garden
Somebody is poisoning the moose of Anchorage. It's probably you. And many of your relatives, friends, and neighbors. Because the entire city is a garden laced with poisonous plants.
Anchorage, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

Sneezes, wheezes, tears: What's in store for this spring's allergy season?
Dust. Trees. Grasses. Mold. How to read the signs about whether 2016 will be gentle or monstrous for allergy sufferers.
Anchorage, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

Fukushima derived radiocesium in subsistence-consumed northern fur seal and wild celery
Trace 134Cs in northern fur seal tissue suggests that the
population under study had been minimally exposed Fukushima-derived radionuclides. Despite this
inference, the radionuclide quantities detected are small and no impact is expected as a result of the
measured radiation exposure, either in northern fur seal or human populations consuming this species.
Saint Paul, Alaska, United States
Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

Wild Berry Harvests Less Reliable According to Alaskan Local Observers
A new study from USGS, ANTHC, and the Local Environmental Observer (LEO) Network, provides a view statewide trends in wild berry harvests. The authors conclude that monitoring and experimental studies are needed to understand how climate change may affect the species of wild berries that are important to Alaskans. They also recommended that methods by which rural communities can increase their resilience to declining or more variable berry harvests be explored.
Alaska, United States

Inundation, sedimentation, and subsidence creates goose habitat along the Arctic coast of Alaska
Since 1976, the distribution of molting Black Brant ( Branta bernicla nigricans ) on the Arctic Coastal Plain has shifted from inland freshwater lakes to coastal marshes, such as those occupying the Smith River and Garry Creek estuaries.
North Slope, Alaska, United States
Environmental Research Letters
Ken D Tape and Paul L Flint and Brandt W Meixell and Benjamin V Gaglioti

Simulating community effects of sea floor shading by plankton blooms over the West Florida Shelf
Phytoplankton blooms are increasingly conspicuous along the world's
coastlines, and the toxic effects of these blooms have become a major
concern. Nutrient enrichment often causes phytoplankton blooms, which
decrease water transparency, but little is known about the effects of
such light regime changes on whole communities of the continental shelf.
A series of simulations designed to evaluate the potential effects of
shading by phytoplankton blooms on community organization were conducted
using a balanced trophic model of the West Florida Shelf ecosystem and
the Ecopath with Ecosim modeling approach. Many functional groups in the
system were predicted to decline as benthic primary production was
inhibited through shading by phytoplankton, especially when associated
biogenic habitat was lost. Groups that obtain most of their energy from
planktonic pathways increased when shading impact and associated
structural habitat degradation were complemented by enhanced
phytoplankton production. Groups predicted to decline as the result of
shading by plankton blooms include seabirds, manatees, and a variety of
demersal and benthic fishes and invertebrates. Some counterintuitive
predictions of declines (mackerel, seabirds, and surface pelagics)
resulted because these groups are somewhat dependent on benthic primary
production. The overall effect of the simulated bloom-associated shading
of benthic primary producers resembled a trophic cascade where the
number of full cycles of biomass gains and losses was approximately
equal to the number of trophic levels in the system (4.7). (C) 2003
Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
The West Florida Shelf, USA
ECOLOGICAL MODELLING
Okey, TA., Vargo, GA., Mackinson, S., Vasconcellos, M., Mahmoudi, B and Meyer, CA

Brittle Tops are Indicative of Pine Tree Health
Demonstration of how easy ponderosa pine tree tops can be broken due to the effects of climate change.
Spokane, Washington, United States
YouTube

Constant construction projects damage the urban forest infrastructure
City construction leaves trees weaker long after the construction project is over and the trees have less of a positive impact on the urban environment.
Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Invasive earthworms are remaking our forests, and climate scientists are worried
As earthworms silently devour leaf litter across the country, they are changing soils, restructuring ecosystems and depleting our forests' carbon stocks.
Canada

Alaska never saw large tundra fires like the East Fork Fire until climate change provided more fuel
The East Fork Fire in Western Alaska is the state's largest at the moment, estimated at more than 150,000 acres Thursday, and it's burning in a region where, just a couple decades ago, large fires would not have been expected.
St. Mary's, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

Trees keep our cities running. Urban construction is threatening their survival
Trees purify the air and generate economic benefits, but unbridled development in cities is increasingly changing growing environments
Québec, Quebec, Canada
The Narwhal

Underwater farming offers sustainable industry for coastal communities
The definition of farming has expanded over time from soil-only planting and harvesting to include farmers that harvest from the sea. Along the coast, kelp f...
Ketchikan, Alaska, United States
YouTube

Invasive species threatening Swedish ecosystem say agencies
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and Agency for Marine and Water Management want to create a national list of invasive species, and have presented ...
Sweden

6 invasive plants in the Yukon and what you can do about them
There are more than 20 invasive plant species in the Yukon that spread, change the makeup of the soil and generally prevent native plant species from thriving in their natural environment. here's what you can do about six of the most common ones.
Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada

More shrubs means way more moose in western Alaska
Biologists want to know why there are so many moose. It may have a lot to do with shrubs — moose feast on their leaves during the spring and summer. These short woody plants are spreading west, aided by climate change, and moose populations are expanding along with them.
Bethel, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

Scientists say wild berries are in decline in Yukon and they don't know why
Berry pickers have long reported that the number of wild berries has been diminishing, and a 26-year study is now confirming the unexplained decline.
Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada

Winemakers getting bitter taste of climate change
As grape harvest time nears across Greece, winemakers are worried about the impact on output from a succession of extreme weather events.
Greece
eKathimerini.com

Climate change threatening Indigenous ways of life
Cecelia Brooks remembers a time when the deep forest of New Brunswick was so cold, snow could still be found in its depths in August. That rarely happens anymore. Brooks, who lives on St. Mary's First Nation in Fredericton, is one of many Indigenous people in the Wabanaki region who say climate change is threatening traditional plants and medicines. Those changes, Brooks says, could alter their way of life.
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

Observed Evidence of Changing Forests:Testimonial for the Status of Tribes and Climate Change Report
The Institute of Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) Tribes and Climate Change Program is publishing a report called the Status of Tribes and Climate C...
Spokane, Washington, United States
YouTube

Scientists present theories for deer decline at Prince of Wales Island deer summit
For years, populations of Sitka black-tail deer have slumped, leaving residents without a staple source of protein. A three-day summit held in Craig last month prompted lengthy discussions about the problem. When loggers cut down a section of old growth Sitka spruce, hemlock and cedar in the Tongass National Forest, there’s no need to replant — trees grow back on their own. It’s what scientists call an “even-aged forest.” When trees all start growing at the same time, they create a dense canopy that prevents light from reaching the ferns and berry bushes that black-tail deer love to snack on. And because the trees grow close together, they end up long and spindly — not the massive, thick, tight-grained trunks that make old growth lumber so highly valued.
Craig, Alaska, United States
KTOO

More shrubs means way more moose in western Alaska
Fall moose hunts are beginning across Alaska. In western parts of the state, biologists hope that hunting pressure will help protect the health of booming populations. They also want to know why there are so many moose in the first place. It may have a lot to do with shrubs — particularly scrubby willows shooting up at the edges of open tundra. Moose feast on their leaves during the spring and summer. These short woody plants are spreading west, aided by climate change, and moose populations are expanding along with them.
Bethel, Alaska, United States

Are birch trees dropping more bio-bits on Anchorage this year?
Garden writer Jeff Lowenfels asks whether there is more matter falling from birch trees late this summer than in previous years,
Anchorage, Alaska, United States

Vast wildfires in Russia's Yakutia have already set an emissions record
MOSCOW — Summer wildfires have already produced a record amount of carbon emissions in Russia’s Siberian region of Yakutia, with still more weeks of the fire season to come, according to the European Union’s Copernicus satellite monitoring unit. Environmentalists fear the fires, fuelled by hot weather, may thaw Siberian permafrost and peatlands, releasing even more
Yakutsk, Sakha, Russia
ArcticToday

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