Background Articles

The Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation is warning spring melt could cause the tailings dam at the abandoned Mount Nansen mine in central Yukon to overflow or breach, which would send a toxic slurry into the environment.

The Inuit are famous for their ability to survive extreme conditions, having inhabited the Arctic for millennia. But as the ice recedes, this hard-earned knowledge is being lost.

Experts use measuring sticks and tanks in regular intervals to monitor snowfall as this season’s total approaches an all-time high.

For the residents of Tuluksak, breakup means that they will once again be losing their source of running water.

The city told owners their buildings should not be occupied until snow is removed if they have a roof at risk of collapse.

A changing climate threatens the pastime of outdoor ice hockey around the world and in Finland.

Drifting icebergs can conflict with navigation routes and cause hazards for coastal communities and ships. Climate change is creating more ice shelf break-off than ever and scientists are keeping track of drifting patterns as a result.

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...

Forty-two reindeer were found foraging among the skeletal remains of a herd on St. Matthew’s Island, a remote patch of Alaskan land in the Bering Sea. What makes it most puzzling is that only three years earlier, the same herd numbered 6,000 animals.

Climate change and warmer conditions have altered snow-driven extremes and previous studies predict less and slower snowmelt in the northern United States and Canada. However, mixed-phase precipitation—shifting between snow and rain—is increasing, especially in higher elevations, making it more challenging to predict future snowmelt, a dominant driver of severe flooding. Researchers at the University of New Hampshire took a closer look at previous studies, and because geographical areas respond differently to climate change, they found future snowmelt incidences could vary greatly by the late 21st century. Snowmelt could decrease over the continental U.S. and southern Canada but increase in Alaska and northern Canada resulting in larger flooding vulnerabilities and possibly causing major societal and economic consequences including costly infrastructure failures.

In recent years, polar bears in the Beaufort Sea have had to travel far outside of their traditional arctic hunting grounds which has contributed to an almost 30% decrease in their population.

Researchers warn the shift can have dire consequences for animals, like penguins, who breed and rear their young on the sea ice while also hastening global warming by reducing how much sunlight is reflected by white ice back into space.

Climate change is rapidly melting away the world’s frozen regions, with summertime Arctic sea ice sure to vanish by 2050, according to a report published on Monday. In just this year, rains fell on East Antarctica in March, as air temperatures were unusually warm. During the summer, the Alps lost 5

An evacuation alert has been issued by Yukon Emergency Measures Organization for areas of Tagish, Marsh Lake and Lewes River Road. This alert is due to high water and flooding in the areas. Water levels have exceeded what they were in the 2007 flood.

Because the heat coincided with the summer solstice, when the northern hemisphere gets “maximum energy” from the sun, "it was really kind of a one-two punch.”

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.

Populations of southern white-tailed ptarmigan, an iconic yet well-camouflaged and easily overlooked bird of Colorado’s alpine regions, appear to be holding steady. But long-term concerns about its future remain in a warming world with growing numbers of people recreating in the state’s fragile alpine ecosystems.

Scientists have identified a key nutrient source used by algae living on melting ice surfaces linked to rising sea levels. They discovered that phosphorus containing minerals may be driving ever-larger algal blooms on the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Weather systems that carry warm air inland, bringing not just rain, but also pushing up freezing levels, causing rapid snowpack melting. The atmospheric river hitting B.C.'s central coast will also pose a risk in the Interior.

Scientists determine geese died due to exhaustion and salt-poisoning. More birds end up dying because of the long flights they undertake, in extreme conditions.