Search our collection of background (non-event) articles from news media, science journals and other sources.
Conservationists petition for federal protection of the rare Kigluaik buttercup, threatened by climate change and proposed mining activities.
New Zealand's first mechanical suction dredge is being trialed in Northland to combat the invasive seaweed caulerpa, potentially revolutionizing marine biosecurity efforts.
Alaska experts are grappling with the challenge of controlling the highly invasive Japanese knotweed, which is resistant to conventional eradication methods and threatens local ecosystems.
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.
Lichens can provide valuable information about air quality and environmental conditions, as different species have different sensitivities to pollution and humidity levels, making them useful indicators of climate and pollution levels in a given area.
"I am concerned about high levels of PFAS contamination in the drinking water?"
A "weed smackdown" at an Anchorage park is part of a long-running campaign to stop the spread of plants that are harming the natural ecosystem.
A decline in the population of sea otters, a well-known predator of urchins and other kelp-eating critters, led to the spread of “urchin barrens” along the Pacific coast, where urchins have mowed down entire kelp forests. Now, researchers are trying to figure out if, and how, other predators such as sunflower stars could play a complementary role in protecting the kelp forests.
Survivors of the Maui fire in Lahaina say they were overwhelmed by the speed of the blaze, the smothering smoke and the lack of escape routes.
The R/V Sikuliaq is a familiar sight in the Port of Nome. The ice-breaking research vessel is owned by the National Science Foundation and operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks. This year, while the vessel is out at sea it will be collecting water that could signal whether a bloom is occurring.
During the 1970's much of the Norwegian coastline was overfished. In the past, a kelp forest provided shelter and food for local sealife. Today, the seabed, along the Norwegian coastline is a sea urchin desert. Researchers, volunteers, and the "Kelp Keepers" in Tromso, are removing the sea urchins and rebuilding the kelp forest.
When most people consider the arctic, or high-altitude mountain landscapes, they think of endless snow, ice and bare rock. But pastel-coloured flowers, sometimes just a few millimetres wide, bloom in these dramatic places too. The miniature flowers not only weather some of the toughest habitats on Earth, but can also help engineer the landscape for other species.
The bill, which got unanimous approval, seeks to help Alaska earn money by allowing its tree-covered tracts to continue absorbing carbon dioxide.
Charitie Ropati, 21, wants to reimagine scientific research to include her traditional values, like community and collective wellbeing.
Climate change is knocking some Pacific salmon out of alignment with the growth of the ocean plankton they eat to survive, new research says.
If added altogether, deposits of wood across the Mackenzie River Delta would cover a third of Yellowknife. Researchers calculated how much carbon it stores — which is at risk of entering the atmosphere more quickly as the climate changes.
Taking care of Hawaii's unique natural environment takes time, people and money. Now Hawaii wants tourists to help pay for it.
The Copper River Basin in Alaska has experienced less reliable snow and ice conditions in recent years, impacting winter activities such as trapping, hunting, and gathering firewood. This study, based on nine oral interviews with local residents, reveals that crossing rivers has become more treacherous and difficult, with significant changes in ice conditions observed since the 1970s. Decreased snowpacks and increased shrub growth have also posed obstacles for accessing winter trails, requiring individuals to cut through forests. These changes, combined with socio-economic and technological factors, have affected the way people engage in winter activities in the Copper River Basin. Overall, this research contributes to the understanding of climate change's impact on winter activities in Alaska and the Circumpolar North.
Climate change has been observed for hundreds of years by the plant specialists of three Odawa Tribes in the Upper Great Lakes along Lake Michigan. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is the focus of two National Park Service (NPS) studies of Odawa Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of plants, ecosystems, and climate change. Data collected during these studies contributed to developing Plant Gathering Agreements between tribes and parks. This analysis derived from 95 ethnographic interviews conducted by University of Arizona (UofA) anthropologists in partnership with tribal appointed representatives. Odawa people recognized in the park 288 plants and five habitats of traditional and contemporary concern. Tribal representatives explained that 115 of these traditional plants and all five habitats are known from multigenerational eyewitness accounts to have been impacted by climate change. The TEK study thus represents what Native people know about the environment. These research findings are neither intended to test their TEK nor the findings of Western science.
A loose raft of brown seaweed spanning about twice the width of the U.S. is inching across the Caribbean. Among annual Sargassum censuses in the Atlantic Ocean, “2018 was the record year, and we’ve had several big years since,” says Brian Lapointe, an oceanographer at Florida Atlantic University, who has studied seaweed for decades. “This is the new normal, and we’re going to have to adapt to it.”
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