Samuel Roberts, 65, and Mark Elson, 51, said they were not prepared to be lost along the shore of Great Slave Lake when they headed out for a short fishing trip. But it became smoky and foggy, and the men became disoriented. The following day, when the air cleared, Roberts said they couldn't recognize anything. "We had no idea that we crossed over the Dettah side and [were] headed to the East Arm," said Elson.

Viruses have now been found in mosquitoes or in animals around the state, prompting health officials to warn Maine residents to protect against mosquito bites. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported positive tests for eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE, in several emu flocks and multiple horses. Also, a horse tested positive for West Nile Virus in York County.

Residents of Borgarfjörður Eystri have had to boil their drinking water for two weeks due to coliform bacteria in their water sources. “This has probably come about because of soil subsidence [sinking ground] in the wet land in that area,” stated Glúmur Björnsson, a geologist at utilities contractor HEF Veitur.

Unusually heavy rains in Lapland have caused water levels to rise near flood levels, and further rises will depend on temperatures over the next few days, with climate change being a contributing factor.

There have been similar, even larger outbreaks of avian flue in seabird colonies in north Norway. In some cases, the losses were dramatic and major fractions of the colonies were wiped out. In Spitsbergen, avian flu was found for the first time in 2002, but the recent outbreak on Hopen is the largest one so far.

Melting glaciers in Iceland are contributing to an increased supply of electrical power. In the past ten years, the additional supply has amounted to one medium-sized power plant.