Background Articles

An ocean heat wave off the U.S. West Coast from 2014 to 2016 drove humpback whales into a narrow band of cooler water, leading to a dramatic increase in whale entanglements with crab-fishing gear, according to a new study.

Bark beetle experts say a recent cold snap has likely killed some spruce beetle infestations in northern B.C.

According to Haines Borough Police Chief Heath Scott, the department received 182 bear-related calls in 2019. That is more than double the number of bear-related calls they received the previous year. Said Fish and Game bear biologist Anthony Crupi, “With really low returns of pink salmon and coho salmon this year, bears are really searching out any opportunities they can find” .

Scientists sampling ice cores from a glacier in China discovered 28 viruses that had been frozen in time for as long as 15,000 years, and were not previously known to mankind.

New research shows the marine heat wave that spread from California to Alaska starting in 2014 caused common murres to starve to death.

The average statewide temperature for the year was 32.2 degrees Fahrenheit, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Wednesday. That breaks the previous record for the warmest year statewide, set in 2016 at 31.9 degrees.

Three weeks after it got stuck in Arctic sea-ice, the Sparta-3 makes it into open waters. The situation on board had been strained as reserves of fuel and water shrunk to low levels and the crew had to fight hard with icing. The military transport vessel did not have permission for sailing in the area.

Atlantic salmon laid a record number of eggs in a Maine river last year, according to a conservation group that tracks the animal's status in the wild.

University of Rhode Island student stumbled upon the first appearance in Rhode Island of what has come to be called sea potatoes (Colpomenia peregrina), an invasive seaweed native to the coast of Korea and Japan that grows on top of other seaweeds.

This marks the sixth straight year of the personal-use razor clam shutdown.

Reduced to just 6,500 animals in 1995, the Fortymile caribou herd in Yukon has seen a remarkable comeback, now numbering around 84,000.

Numbers from Fishing Branch, a tributary of the Porcupine River, fell below management and treaty goals, experts from Alaska and the Yukon said at the Yukon River Panel’s meeting in Whitehorse earlier this month.

Vancouver’s official bird is a sex-crazed, smart, supercharged recent arrival.

For many in Anchorage, winter and its accompanying outdoor opportunities are something to relish rather than escape. But residents of the state’s largest city are being forced to renegotiate their relationship with winters.

Britain’s milder weather is attracting exotic guests. While we may celebrate their arrival now it should also alert us to what’s ahead

Who needs a pricey gym when you can use the forest or even your backyard for a fun workout?

BRUNY ISLAND, TASMANIA (WASHINGTON POST) - Even before the ocean caught fever and reached temperatures no one had ever seen, Australia's ancient giant kelp was cooked.. Read more at straitstimes.com.

214 grey whales stranded in the Pacific in 2019, and scientists are preparing for more deaths in 2020 because whales are emaciated and skinny.

The Washington Post made the Alaska North Slope village of Nuiqsut front page news earlier this month, under a provocative headline: "Alaska's warming, but can't quit big oil." We talked with the reporter who wrote the story.

Birdwatchers in 2019 spotted the second-largest number of rare woodpeckers recorded so far in Finland. White-backed and three-toed woodpeckers rarely appear in the hundreds.