Background Articles

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.

The intensity of the smoke this week will be “hit or miss” depending on winds and fire behavior.

The McKinley fire, Deshka Landing fire and Swan Lake fire continued to impact Southcentral Alaska with highway closures and delays, smoke and questions about when residents evacuated from the McKinley fire would be able to return to their homes.

Out of the eight species of bats in the Northwest Territories, residents are most likely to see the little brown bats.

Dead salmon have shown up in river systems throughout Alaska, and the mortalities are probably connected to warm water or low river water levels, said a Fish and Game official.

The region has seen less than an inch of rainfall since June 1 and no measurable rain at all during August, putting it on track to beat a 50-year record.

Alaska’s Changing Environment is a newly released publication that compiles observations of physical and biological change in and around Alaska. The publication, which is intended for a gener…

Usually blue-green algae is at its heaviest in Finnish lakes in August, but this summer levels in August are lower than at any time in the 20 years of national monitoring,

The land around Höfn in Hornafjörður is rising rapidly due to the melting of the glaciers in the surrounding area. There, the land is rising one centimetre per year,

With some of this year's salmon runs projected to be the lowest on record, West Coast salmon fishermen are demanding disaster relief from the federal and provincial governments.

A new study that suggests sockeye returns have dropped by three-quarters in the Skeena River over the last century should serve as a "wake-up call" for B.C., the lead researcher says.

Homer-area neighborhoods have been told to prepare for potential evacuation. The Sterling and Parks highways have been partially reopened — but expect delays.

Usually by August, peak fire season has passed. But fire and climate experts say conditions in Southcentral Alaska were nearly perfect for fire this weekend, from the sky to the dry forest floor.

A fire management official said more concrete information about the structures damaged by the fire will be available after emergency managers go in to survey the area on Tuesday.

After a decade or so of only about 20 reported cases annually, 2018 saw 43 cases detected on cattle and pig farms.

“Whenever a seismic boat goes past and we drop our gear, the fish aren’t there. Any fisherman, or fisherman worth their salt, will tell you there’s an impact. They’ve seen it first-hand.”

One theory is the pinks were traveling somewhere else to spawn, and taking a longer than usual route to avoid warming water.

Halifax-based scuba diver Lloyd Bond says in the last three years he's seen increasing numbers of butterfly fish, seahorses, cornet fish, trigger fish, puffer fish, and many other species not native to Canadian waters.

From the Koyukuk River, to the Kuskokwim, to Norton Sound, to Bristol Bay’s Igushik River, unusually warm temperatures across Alaska this summer led to die-offs of unspawned chum, sockeye and pink salmon. Warm waters also sometimes this summer acted as a “thermal block” — essentially a wall of heat salmon don’t swim past, delaying upriver migration.

Islanders are struggling to reconcile impact of global warming with traditional way of life.