LEO Network

About the LEO Network
The LEO Network is a worldwide network of observers and experts that share their observations of environmental change.
Continue

Observations

What we know about recovery, a month after ex-Typhoon Halong
With resources spread out over thousands of miles and dozens of communities, KYUK has tried to summarize what we know and don't know about the impact of the storm.
Kwigillingok, Alaska, United States
KYUK

Officials say storm 'completely devastated' Western Alaska communities
Remnants of Typhoon Halong drove record storm surge and hurricane-force winds into Western Alaska, devastating Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta villages like Kipnuk and Kwigillingok. Officials report dozens of homes destroyed, mass rescues, widespread outages, and at least one death, with many residents sheltering and recovery efforts underway.
Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

Francisella tularensis Subspecies holarctica in Stranded Beluga Whales, Cook Inlet, Alaska, USA
Emerging Infectious Diseases journal

Cost estimates rising for permafrost-related damage to Alaska roads and buildings
Better knowledge and mapping of existing infrastructure is leading to a new estimate of future thaw costs under varying climate scenarios.
Utqiaġvik, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

Water testing increased after 96‑litre fuel spill in Baker Lake, Nunavut
Residents of Baker Lake remain under a boil‑water advisory after 96 litres of heating fuel spilled near the community’s water intake, prompting increased sampling and monitoring.
Baker Lake, Nunavut, Canada
CBC News

One hundred years ago, dogs came to the rescue of Nome
The article recounts the extraordinary 1925 dog sled relay that delivered diphtheria antitoxin to Nome, Alaska, amid a severe epidemic, highlighting the centennial of this historic event and the heroic efforts of mushers and their dogs who braved harsh conditions to save lives.
Nome, Alaska, United States
The Nome Nugget

Neste not behind white clumps washed up on Hanko's shoreline, probe finds
A Finnish Border Guard probe ruled out Neste as the source of white clumps that washed up on Hanko’s beaches, suggesting they may have come from a ship that used a Russian port.
Hanko, Uusimaa, Finland
Yle News

2024 rewind: Hurricane Helene
In the early hours of Friday, Sept. 27, Hurricane Helene swept through the Upstate. Seven people were killed by the storm in Greenville County, among nearly 50 in South Carolina. Helene was the deadliest hurricane in state history.
Greenville, North Carolina, United States
GREENVILLE JOURNAL

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
Anchorage Daily News

This Italian vacation hotspot is turning tourists away as it runs out of water
Agrigento, a tourist destination in Sicily, is facing severe water shortages, leading to rationing and the turning away of tourists, impacting the local economy reliant on tourism and agriculture.
Agrigento, Sicily, Italy
CTVNews

New Alaska water quality rules are coming. Here's what that could mean for wastewater systems.
Alaska's impending water quality regulations may necessitate advanced treatment for contaminants like phthalates in wastewater, posing challenges for local systems to comply with stricter EPA standards.
Alaska, United States
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

Pollution on the Liffey: Algal blooms at Blessington a threat to Dublin’s drinking water
Algal blooms in the Liffey River threaten Dublin's drinking water due to pollution and climate change, raising concerns about the safety of fish and the future impact on water treatment.
Valleymount, Leinster, Ireland
The Irish Times

Keeping cans and computers out of the landfill: Dillingham's recycling initiatives
The Friends of the Landfill works with community partners to recycle aluminum cans and tech waste.
Dillingham, Alaska, United States
KDLG

83,000 Hawaii homes dispose of sewage in cesspools. Rising sea levels will make the mess worse.
This rural part of the island of Oahu is not connected to city sewers — and waste from toilets, sinks and showers is mostly collected in hundreds of pits called cesspools. Rising seas are also pushing groundwater closer to the surface, allowing cesspool effluent to mix with the water table and flow into the ocean.
Waialua, Hawaii, United States
Anchorage Daily News

A Chugiak trailer park under eviction notice lacks clean water and sits on contaminated land. Many residents are fighting to stay.
Tenants in the Forest Park trailer court say they have few, if any, affordable options. Some officials see a warning sign of a worsening housing crisis to come.
Chugiak, Alaska, United States

Y-K Delta women describe the realities of living with climate change for foreign dignitaries
The relocation between from Newtok to Mertavik has taken time and community members stay patient as local, state, and federal agencies figure out the complex funding and logistical hurdles.
Newtok, Alaska, United States

Cruise Ship Invasion
Take a typical Alaska cruise and see the damage in its wake. Waste-water disposal to on board garbage piles up leaking into the natural environment and local waste sites. Noise pollution from the ships impact whales and other species that rely on sounds for communication. Total visitors from the industry impact on small communities has pros and cons. The evidence is clear: the industry needs an overhaul.
Juneau, Alaska, United States
Hakai Magazine

Juneau's wastewater has four times as much COVID as the national average
This weekend marks the third anniversary of the World Health Organization’s declaration of the global pandemic — and Juneau’s wastewater is awash with COVID.
Juneau, Alaska, United States
KTOO

Blizzard batters Northwest Alaska, causing infrastructure problems
In addition to blizzard conditions, Kotzebue residents have been experiencing power outages, water service interruptions and travel complications because of the storms.
Kotzebue, Alaska, United States

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

Garbage collection from the coast and tundra after the storm was completed in the village of Rytkuchi
Garbage and wood were removed by the municipal services of the village of Rytkuchi of the Pevek urban district from the coastline and tundra near the settlement. This was the final stage of a large-scale clean-up, which began in the summer after a strong storm.
Prochukotku

As support streams in, one village still accounting for what was lost in Western Alaska storm
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.
Golovin, Alaska, United States

Typhoon Merbok pounded Alaska’s vulnerable coastal communities at a critical time
The powerful remnants of Typhoon Merbok pounded Alaska’s western coast on Sept. 17, 2022, pushing homes off their foundations and tearing apart protective berms as water flooded communities. Storms aren’t unusual here, but Merbok built up over unusually warm water. Its waves reached 50 feet over the Bering Sea, and its storm surge sent water levels into communities at near record highs along with near hurricane-force winds.
Bering Sea
ArcticToday

Western Alaska braces for strong storm and possible floods
Kotzebue, Alaska, United States

Officials believe Hooper Bay's sewage lagoon broke open due to cold followed by rain
Just two days after temperatures dipped below -5 degrees Fahrenheit in Hooper Bay, they shot up above freezing, and it started to rain. That caused the water level in the lagoon to rise, and water started to flow through the crack, eroding the lagoon wall.
Hooper Bay, Alaska, United States
KTOO

The Great Siberian Thaw
Permafrost contains microbes, mammoths, and twice as much carbon as Earth’s atmosphere. What happens when it starts to melt?
Yakutsk, Sakha, Russia
The New Yorker

I hope people talk about this storm for a long time
If that saying about Jan. 1 setting the tone for the year to come has any truth to it, 2022 is going to be a wild ride.
Cantwell, Alaska, United States

Canadian military sets up water purification units for Iqaluit at the Sylvia Grinnell River
The Canadian Armed Forces has begun setting up two water purification units at the Sylvia Grinnell River on Monday morning to help Nunavut’s capital with its ongoing water emergency. The military had been waiting for the City of Iqaluit’s approval before setting up the units. The two parties agreed on the location Sunday night, said
Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada
ArcticToday

US communities say dire predictions in UN climate report already unfolding
For many U.S. communities, the bleak predictions laid out in a new United Nations climate change report are more a reflection of the present and not just what’s to come.
United States
The Hill

Water and sanitation deficiencies worsened the COVID pandemic in rural Alaska, a study finds
A lack of adequate water and sewer service and overcrowded housing combined to make the COVID-19 pandemic more severe in rural Alaska, a new study confirms.
Alaska, United States
ArcticToday

Climate change is worsening water scarcity in rural Alaska says study
Climate change is worsening water scarcity in rural Alaska and a host of new strategies is needed to help address the issue says a recent study.
Alaska
Eye on the Arctic

St Vincent volcano erupts again, spewing more gas and ash
Experts raise concerns about residents who refuse to evacuate as ‘huge explosion’ reported at La Soufriere volcano. The volcano, which last erupted in 1979, began spewing copious amounts of ash on Friday.
La Soufriere, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Al Jazeera

Garbage in the water: How old landfills are harming Inuit communities; marine food chains
The landfill in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, is overfull, but the hamlet can’t open a new landfill until it can pay to decommission the old one, says hamlet Mayor Harry Towtongie. A new environmental report says bad dumps are a problem in all of Canada's Inuit regions.
Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada
CBC

Tuluksak desperate for a source of drinking water almost 2 weeks after fire destroyed water plant
Residents of the Southwest Alaska village are hauling water from the Kuskokwim River, collecting rainwater and drinking donated bottled water as officials seek a viable option.
Tuluksak, Alaska, United States

– 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

City of Iqaluit approves $64M plan to build new reservoir
Newspaper of record for Nunavut, and the Nunavik territory of Quebec
Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada
Nunatsiaq News

Alaska Town Fleeing to Higher Ground
Rising sea levels will threaten three times more people in the next 30 years than previously thought, according to the latest scientific estimates. Among the hundreds of millions of people worldwide facing the threat are the 400 residents of Newtok, Alaska. Rising river and eroding land is pushing the entire community to relocate, despite emotional and logistical hurdles.
Newtok, Alaska, United States
PBS News

Metlakatla, which depends on water, has moved quickly to accommodate the realities of drought
Following a season of drought, the Southeast Alaska community of Metlakatla is navigating a different relationship with water, like a number of other places in the region.
Metlakatla, Alaska, United States

Iqaluit water reservoir is almost full, just in time for winter
An emergency project to pump water from Unnamed Lake started in mid-August, and has been successful. The city's reservoir at Lake Geraldine is projected to be filled ten days ahead of schedule.
CBC

California Sinking
For more than a century farmers in California's Central Valley have been pumping water out of the ground — so much so that the land is slowly sinking, a process known as subsidence. In fewer than 100 years, it's dropped 8½ metres.
Corcoran, California, United States
CBC

Canada's Pollution Problem Is So Bad That It's Currently Raining Plastic
Microplastics from the breakdown of plastics and from microbeads used in toothpaste and exfoliants, are so small, they are able to travel in the atmosphere.
Canada

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

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

Video Describes Sanitation Adaptation with Arctic Box Repair
Arctic boxes connect water and sewer service to rural homes in Alaska. These boxes experience a lot of stress from differential ground movement caused by permafrost thaw. This video demonstrates how to repair a damaged Arctic box. Functional arctic boxes are an important part of water and wastewater services in Alaska.
Holy Cross, Alaska, United States
Vimeo

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

The Kerala Floods
Since 2018, Kerala has faced increasingly severe and frequent floods, a stark contrast to its historical rarity, driven by factors like Indian Ocean warming and local environmental changes, underscoring a global trend of climate-driven extremes and the urgent need for improved flood management and climate adaptation.
Arukutti, Kerala, India

Harmful algae blooms found across Central Montana
Harmful algae blooms are something Montana has to worry about every summer, and now there have been a couple places in central and western Montana confirmed to have the harmful blue green algae. T...
Central and Western Montana, United States
Fox Montana

Mysterious algae vortex the size of Manhattan can be seen from space
Scientists aren't sure what is causing this whirlpool of algae but believe it's likely to cause a marine dead zone.
Baltic Sea
MNN - Mother Nature Network

How to Stop Toxic Algae From Overwhelming Florida's Largest Lake
Blue-green algae has bloomed again in Lake Okeechobee, filling waterways with putrid sludge that can contaminate local water and marine animals.
Lake Okeechobee, Florida, United States
Pacific Standard

U.S. Coastal Flooding Breaks Records as Sea Level Rises, NOAA Report Shows
The frequency of high-tide flooding has doubled in 30 years. Some cities faced more than 20 days of it in the past year, and not just during hurricanes.
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
InsideClimate News

Erosion may force this Southwest Alaska village to move — again
This is not the first time the village of Chefornak has faced the threat of erosion and flooding, but relocating won’t be as easy as it was last time.
Chefornak, Alaska, United States

Miami Beach's Tidal Flooding Has Jumped by 400 Percent in the Past Decade
A UM study has found that tidal flooding has leaped by 400 percent in the last ten years thanks to climate change.
South Beach, Miami, Florida, United States
Miami New Times

Miami: How Rising Sea Levels Endanger South Florida
By century's end, rising sea levels will turn the nation's urban fantasyland into an American Atlantis. But long before the city is completely underwater, chaos will begin
Miami Beach, Florida, United States
Rolling Stone

Nunavut sees 5-year high for water advisories in 2021
Nunavut communities have seen a five-year high of water advisories in 2021, without counting Iqaluit’s ongoing water emergency. As of Friday, about a month before the year’s end, 14 water advisories had been issued in seven communities outside of the capital city this year, more than tripling the four advisories issued in 2017.

Tuluksak Will Lose Only Source Of Running Water During Breakup
For the residents of Tuluksak, breakup means that they will once again be losing their source of running water.
Tuluksak, Alaska, United States
KYUK

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

‘Some days we eat grass’: families on the edge in Afghanistan’s food crisis – in pictures
Drought, economic collapse and soaring food prices have pushed millions into hunger. Cash aid from the Disasters Emergency Committee is helping families feed their children and send them back to school
Afghanistan
the Guardian

Sea ice, storms and coastal erosion in Nelson Lagoon - Science Q&A with Reyce Bogardus
UAF graduate student Reyce Bogardus talks about sea ice, storms and coastal erosion at Nelson Lagoon, which is on the southernmost edge of the historical max...
Nelson Lagoon, Alaska, United States
YouTube

‘No home to go to’: Hundreds of evacuees need shelter as catastrophic Western Alaska storm empties inundated villages
Troopers said that they have suspended the active search for two men missing from Kwigillingok, one of the hardest-hit communities. The men are related to the storm’s lone confirmed fatality, a 67-year-old woman found Monday.
Kipnuk, Alaska, United States

Still waiting on Merbok aid, Shaktoolik braces for fall storms
Shaktoolik, a village in Alaska, is still waiting for aid from FEMA to rebuild a protective berm that was destroyed by a typhoon, leaving the community vulnerable to storms and erosion.
Shaktoolik, Alaska, United States
The Nome Nugget

Study links lack of running water to prevalence of ear infections among rural Alaska children
A Bering Strait study, part of a program examining ear infections and hearing loss, links lack of running water to childhood ear diseases.
Nome, Alaska, United States
Alaska Beacon

Support

Observation Template