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

Drought increases in SE Alaska while July temps break records
Southeast Alaska has suffered from a drought and warmer-than-normal temperatures for about two years now. The month of July broke more records.
Petersburg, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

Short-tailed Shearwaters (Ardenna tenuirostris) Found on Chukchi Sea Beach
More than 50 birds and a seal were found along the shoreline.
Kivalina, Alaska, United States
Kathy Kuletz, Janet Mitchell, Gay Sheffield, Hillary Burgess

Moldy fish in an Alaskan river threaten a community’s food supply
In early October 2013, local fishers Eli Nukapigak and Edward Nukapigak Jr. alerted wildlife officials to the discovery of “sick fish” in their nets near Nuiqsut. The aanaakłiq had fuzzy grayish-white patches on their bodies, fins, and heads. Cottony masses almost covered the eyes of some fish. None of the fishers in the community recalled seeing this condition before.
Nuiqsut, Alaska, United States
Hakai Magazine

Storm-related Erosion in Shaktoolik
"We were lucky to have the berm in place. The next day, the water levels went down and the erosion was noticeable."
Shaktoolik, Alaska, United States
Anahma Shannon, Racheal Lee, Jacquelyn Overbeck, Richard Buzard, Jolene Auliye, Gay Sheffield, Edward "Ted" Smith

Dead Pre-spawned Pink Salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha)
During the summer of 2019, warm water temperatures lowered the amount of dissolved oxygen in rivers and caused salmon across the state, including Mountain Village, to die before they were able to spawn.
Mountain Village, Alaska, United States

Toxic Algae Advisory for Klamath River
Caution: Blue Green Algae has been detected in the Lower Klamath River and contact with water is not advised. Samples in the South Slough located in the Estuary of the River and near the confluence of Tulley Creek and the Klamath River recently detected low levels of toxic algae.
Klamath, California, United States
Yurok Tribe Environmental Department

Salmon Die-off
Salmon are dying along the Andreafsky River and Lower Yukon River before spawning out. Water surface temperatures have been unusually warm, at one point reaching 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
St. Mary's, Alaska, United States
Jennifer Dobson, Jayde Ferguson, Eric Alstrom, Brian Lefferts

Lake Is Full of Algae This Summer
"I am worried that unless we do something, the algae will kill the lake, or at least our enjoyment of it."
Anchorage, Alaska, United States
Shelley Griffith, Mike Brubaker, Dean Stockwell, Gillian Brubaker , Gino Graziano

Burying Beetle (Genus Nicrophorus) in Southwest Alaska
A burying beetle was seen for the first time by an observer in Tuntutuliak.
Tuntutuliak, Alaska, United States

Dragon Flies Reach the Colville Nigliq Channel
Nuiqsut, Alaska, United States

Warmer Water Means More Parasites In Kuskokwim Salmon
Subsistence families along the Kuskokwim River are cutting open fish to find white balls or white streaks deforming the meat.
Bethel, Alaska, United States
KYUK

Pink Salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) and Other Fish Dying in Warm Water
Koyuk, Alaska, United States
Gay Sheffield, Chris Dankmeyer, Anahma Shannon, Rebecca Charles, Austin Ahmasuk, Racheal Lee, Jayde Ferguson

Cape Thompson: Gathering Murre (Uria aalge) Eggs
Murres along Cape Thompson are migrating earlier, allowing coastal community residents to collect eggs a few weeks earlier than normal.
Kivalina, Alaska, United States

Dead Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens)
This walrus was found by a local fisherman and reported by LEO Network to the US Fish and Wildlife Walrus Hotline. The carcass is thought to be too old for necropsy or sample collection.
St. Michael, Alaska, United States
Louisa Castrodale, Mellisa Heflin, Anahma Shannon, Joel Garlich-Miller, Jonathan Snyder, Barbara Mahoney, Racheal Lee, Gay Sheffield, Michelle Snowball

Little Ice for Bearded Seal (Erignathus barbatus) Hunting
Because of the increased travel distance, only families with larger boats were able to participate in the hunt and bring back enough to make the trip cost effective. With a heavier load in the boat, one family ran out of gas trying to get home and had to be rescued.
Kivalina, Alaska, United States
Janet Mitchell, Anna Godduhn, Richard L Thoman Jr

Beached Grey Whale (Eschrichtius robustus) near Turnagain Arm
Grey whale (*Eschrichtius robustus*) found beached near the Placer River along Turnagain Arm is one of five grey whales reported dead along the Alaska coast during 2019.
Placer Creek

Unusual Yellowknife Weather "Light Sleet"
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada

Sleet Storm
Not seen in at least my 15 years in Yellowknife.

Salal (Gaultheria shallon) dying back in coastal BC and WA
Cape Disappointment, Washington, United States

Extreme weather sparks large die off of Cedar on Vancouver Island
A growing die off of native Western Red Cedar trees is becoming visible right across East Vancouver Island now. Experts say its a symptom of climate change and as Skye Ryan reports, its changing the forests we've come to know across this region.
East Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada
CHEK

Seaweed invading Essequibo, Demerara, Berbice rivers
Aerial shots of what appeared to be remnants of an oil spill in the Essequibo River has turned out to be huge beds of sargassum seaweed which is now a
Parika, Essequibo Islands-West Demerara, Guyana
Stabroek News

A nightmare trip, how drivers handled the mud on the Mackenzie Valley winter road
One of the main winter highways in the Northwest Territories turned into a swamp this week following unseasonably high temperatures.
Mackenzie Valley
CBC

Northern Canada: mild temperatures cause winter road closure in Northwest Territories
Deteriorating conditions on the Mackenzie Valley Winter Road have prompted the Northwest Territories government to close the winter highway for the season.
Mackenzie Valley Winter Road
Eye on the Arctic

For first time since records began, NWT hits 20C in March
The NWT broke a symbolic temperature barrier as a heatwave continued. There were warnings over ice roads and spoiled meat, and questions about climate change.
Northwest Territories, Canada
Cabin Radio

Mild spell forces temporary daytime closure of Yellowknife's Snowking castle
Despite daytime closures, evening events expected to happen on schedule this week.
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
CBC

Shorefast Ice Breaks Off in Nome
Warm ocean temperatures are keeping ice thin, which become easily moved by the wind. This ice movement separates commercial and subsistence crabbers from their gear, and have led to the loss of both crabbing and mining gear.
Nome, Alaska, United States

That ice was 3300 years old. And now it melts
Thousands of years old ice disappears all over Norway. Dag Inge Bakke (42) is among those struggling to save the frozen archive of the past.
Galdhøpiggen, Oppland, Norway
NRK Norsk Rikskringkasting

Spring flowers bloom very early
The winter holiday offers 15 degrees (C) of heat and spring flowers.
Lavik, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway
NRK (Norwegian Broadcasting Company) Sogn og Fjordane

We get warmer and warmer later in the year
In Etne in Hordaland, 30.4 degrees of heat were measured at 15 today. Never has it been so hot so late in the year in Norway.
Etne, Hordaland, Norway
NRK
Oddleif Løset, Birger Kolsrud Jåsund and Geir Bjarte Hjetland

Icebergs and Open Sea
Very strong south winds took out all the sea ice and created an ice pile in front of the village.
Shishmaref, Alaska, United States
Andrew Kakoona, Olivia Lee, Sharon Nayokpuk

Yukon Quest's route shortened this year because of lack of snow
For safety dogs and mushers will be trucked from Braeburn to Carmacks.
Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
CBC

Amid environmental grief, finding hope in a graveyard of yellow cedar
One ecologist wonders, for the yellow cedar forests and the people who care about them, what comes after climate change and environmental loss in Southeast Alaska?
Juneau, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media
Elizabeth Jenkins, Alaska's Energy Desk - Juneau

Decline of mountain bird populations
Some species have experienced a much greater decline than average. For the snowflake in Scandinavia there is talk of approx. 35 percent, patchwork 25 percent.
Vadsø, Finnmark Fylke, Norway
NRK, Norwegian Broadcasting Company

The changing nature of Canada's forest supply as fires, bugs, and climate bite
Mills in the heart of Canada's timber industry have fallen quieter this winter as wildfires and infestations made worse by climate change have made vast tracts of once valuable forest into barren stands of dead trees.
Fraser Lake, British Columbia, Canada
Alaska Highway News

Smelt (Osmerus mordax) Mortality
Thousands of smelts were found dead during low tide in the Togiak slough. Is there an environmental cause?
Togiak, Alaska, United States

Dirty water may be reason for very strange shortage of fish harvest, says N.W.T. angler
Anglers in Aklavik, N.W.T., are trying to figure out why there was a shortage of fish in local hotspots this year.
Aklavik, Northwest Territories, Canada

California fires: Number of missing soars over 1,000 as Paradise reels from unfathomable losses
The death toll in the Camp fire in Northern California rose to 63 Thursday as President Trump planned to visit California to meet with people impacted by the wildfires in what marks his second trip to the state since his election.
Paradise, California, United States
latimes.com
Alene Tchekmedyian, Nicole Santa Cruz, Javier Panzar

Bacterial Infection in 16 Broad Whitefish (Coregonus nasus)
The skin lesion in the photo is likely caused by a stress-related bacterial infection – possibly trauma initiated. Probably common opportunistic bacteria in the environment such as motile Pseudomonas/Aeromonas Gram-negative organisms.
Nuiqsut, Alaska, United States

Herring (Clupea pallasii) in Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina) stomach
Odd time of year for seals to be eating herring.
Haines, Alaska, United States

'Really shocking': Sperm whales spotted near Pond Inlet
The two whales were spotted just 10 minutes outside of Pond Inlet, surprising local guides and scientists, who say it's a sign of shifts in the ecosystem.
Pond inlet, Nunavut

Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) die-off French Beach
Many mature Sitka spruce trees dying off from French Beach south into Sooke along waterfront. Many dead partway up and needles thin.
North Saanich, British Columbia, Canada
Elizabeth Graham, Jacob Earnshaw, Robin Mulvey

Canada's dry lakes and dust storms 'warning for planet'
For 300 years, glacial runoff was the major water source for Kluane Lake, flowing in by way of the Slims River. But in May 2016, Kluane Lake levels dropped precipitously. The problem was a case of "river piracy" — incredibly rare, and hugely significant. The terminus or end of the Kaskawulsh glacier had receded enough that a glacial lake that fed the Slims River suddenly drained when the glacier outflow found a new direction to a new river.
Kluane Lake
The Weather Network

Unusual Squid Found on Shoreline
Squid are becoming more common on the shoreline over the past few years.
Aleksandrovsk, Alaska, United States

Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) mortality from drought stress
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Easter Island Is Eroding
Rising ocean levels are causing waves to break on the statues and platforms built a thousand years ago. The island risks losing its cultural heritage. Again.
Easter Island, Chile
New York Times

As permafrost thaws, Western Alaska village cemeteries sink into swampland
In villages like Kongiganak, communities have stopped burying their dead because, as the permafrost melts, the oldest part of their cemetery is sinking.
Kongiganak, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

How debris from rockets launched far away is a risk to Inuit food security
The North Water Polynya, between Nunavut and Greenland, is one of the Arctic’s most biologically productive areas — and an important part of the food supply for nearby Inuit communities.
Pikialasorsuaq North Water, North Baffin Bay
Arctic Today
Tiff-Annie Kenny, University of Ottawa, Tad Lemieux, Carleton University

Simla had probably been stuck here for a couple of days: Shows the dangers of littering along the fjord
Reindeer stuck in local trash. Blue markings can also be seen on body. Mayor Frank M. Ingilæ and his two dogs came to the rescue for this fight Wednesday.
Torhop, Tana kommune, Troms and Finnmark County, Norway
iFinnmark

Rise in reindeer deaths in the Arctic linked with loss of sea ice and extreme weather
Two extreme weather events in 2006 and 2013 caused mass starvation among the reindeer herds, and researchers for the first time have linked these extreme weather events in the coastal mainland in northwest Russia with sea ice loss in the adjoining Barents and Kara seas.
Ямало-Ненецкий АО, Russia
Phys.org

Eroding Arctic coastline reveals human bones
When a storm exposes human remains in Barrow, there isn’t an established protocol. They are usually given to the federally recognized Native Village of Barrow for repatriation.
Utqiaġvik, Alaska, United States
Eye on the Arctic

Pink Salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) Die-off, Jakolof Creek
Drought and high temperatures have dried the creek and caused thousands of pink salmon and Dolly Varden to die before they could spawn. The event raises questions about vulnerability of area salmon streams to climate change, and for local residents food security.
Jakolof Creek, Alaska, United States
Michael Opheim , Stephen Payton, Ryan Brubaker

Infected salmon just another problem for Yukon subsistence fishermen
Yukon subsistence fishermen face challenges with gear restrictions, closures, and reports of salmon potentially infected with ichthyophonus, impacting their summer fishing activities.
Yukon River, Alaska, United States
KTOO

The warm ‘blob’ in Canada’s Pacific Ocean
Last year, 2014, was the hottest year ever recorded on Earth. Unlike other worldwide problems from which Canadians might feel relatively safe and isolated, but Canada is actually ground zero of global climate.
Gulf of Alaska / Northeast Pacific
Times Colonist

Gravesite Erosion
Permafrost thaw and storms are drivers.
Teller, Alaska, United States
Jennifer Demir, Ryan Brubaker, Racheal Lee, Anahma Shannon, Mike Brubaker, Kendra Lee, Tom Wolforth

River Erosion on the Yukon Flats
Yukon Flats community dealing with river erosion and landscape changes that are threatening the loss of traditional harvesting areas.
Fort Yukon, Alaska, United States

Seal with Hair Loss
Seal with hair loss observed in Bering Strait region
Unalakleet, Alaska, United States

Powerful Quake and Tsunami Devastate Northern Japan
Japan was filled with scenes of desperation a day after an 8.9-magnitude quake, as survivors called for help and rescuers looked for people buried in rubble.
Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
The New York Times

Fiona's aftermath in Port aux Basques: 'It looks like a bomb went off'
'We did what we could to prepare, and still, we were underprepared'. Harvey’s assessment is much uglier in the daylight. Much of the town looks like it took a point-blank blast from an army tank. The photos do little to capture the sheer shock of local residents, especially those who lost their homes. Some are a bit more stoic than others, focused on rebuilding. Others are understandably much more raw and emotional, dissolving into tears while passerby rush to comfort them.
Channel-Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Saltwire.com

'We have nowhere': B.C. First Nations, rural residents say storm permanently changed the land
"For our grandchildren and their children, now the devastation has left them nothing": Shackan First Nation Chief Arnold Lampreau.
Merritt, British Columbia, Canada
vancouversun

Dispersed across B.C., the Lytton First Nation aims to come back strong
Like many people in Lytton, council member John Haugen's not sure when he'll be able to settle back home. One thing he is certain about is that his people, those of the Lytton First Nation who have lived in the area for about 10,000 years, will continue living on their ancestral lands.
Lytton, British Columbia, Canada

Humpback salmon have invaded the River Teno
This summer, the number of humpback salmon in the River Teno, the border river between Norway and Finland, has increased enormously from last year. These salmon have been swimming near the shores, with masses of them dying in the river from exhaustion. Local people are extremely worried.
Teno River, Norway/Finland Border
The Independent Barents Observer

Ice Out: How N.H.'s rite of spring has become a symbol of climate change
Ice is a key player not only in the culture of the northern Northeast, but also in its unique lake ecosystems – a determinant of everything from water temperature to aquatic food chains to water quality. And according to long-term climate data, ice-out has been moving earlier and earlier.
Center Harbor, New Hampshire, United States
Yahoo News

‘A lot of salmon died’: Ahousaht Guardians look to watershed restoration amid B.C.’s dangerously dry summer
B.C. drought exacerbating forestry damage to Bedwell River near Tofino as Ahousaht First Nation works to protect salmon, restore watershed.
Tofino, British Columbia, Canada
The Narwhal

With no dam to stop it, the Eklutna River is temporarily reborn. Many people hope to keep it alive for good.
Conservation and tribal groups in 2018 removed a downstream dam in the river northeast of Anchorage. But an upriver dam provides the cheapest energy in Southcentral Alaska. For people from the Native Village of Eklutna the river’s rebirth was an important moment. They want the 12-mile-long waterway permanently restored, along with the salmon their late elders once described as abundant.
Knik-Fairview, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

Spring bounty: Utqiagvik landed 10 whales in less than two weeks
This early in spring, the season usually only starts, but the weather patterns have been changing, and so has been the harvest time, Donovan said.
Utqiaġvik, Alaska, United States
The Arctic Sounder

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