LEO Network

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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

Douglas Fir and Ponderosa Pine Regeneration in a Changing Climate
Factors like reduced summer precipitation, extreme heat events, and ponderosa pine's superior drought resilience highlight the need to adapt reforestation practices to species more suited to changing environmental conditions.
Castlegar, British Columbia, Canada

Mysterious glowing spiral in the sky over Alaska draws questions, and a simple explanation
Anchorage-based photographer saw something wild — a sudden, bright light on the northern horizon that quickly started to take on a spiral shape as it drew nearer. The spiral “appears to be rocket engine exhaust from a SpaceX Transporter-7 mission that launched on the Falcon 9 about three hours earlier in California.”
Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

Kotzebue still shoveling out from March storms
Kotzebue experienced one blizzard after another in March, and now with so much piled up and drifted snow, the community is struggling to dig out.
Kotzebue, Alaska, United States

Persistent drought
"In our country Afghanistan I have observed that the level of water is decreasing day by day."
Kabul, Kabul, Afghanistan

Pilots reported mysterious lights 'dancing' over Yellowknife last month
An airline crew flying into Yellowknife a few weeks ago reported seeing some unidentified high-altitude lights near the airport — apparently leaving both the crew on board and air traffic controllers on the ground perplexed.
Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
CBC

U.S. downs another aerial 'object' over Lake Huron as search continues for wreckage in Yukon
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the search for an object downed over the Yukon yesterday is ongoing, while several U.S. representatives say that country's military has destroyed another object over Lake Huron.
Yukon, Canada
CBC

After China balloon scare, Air Force shoots down object flying above Alaska’s North Slope
Object shot down by US Air Force, ordered by Biden, over North slope of Alaska.
Utqiaġvik, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

Late Alaska Winter
October flew by leaving us with a couple of light snowfalls. November came around with something slightly more impressive, but it wasn't the same. Mid December decided to make up for all of the snowfalls that we missed all at once, it seems like.
Anchorage, Alaska, United States
Richard L Thoman Jr, Mike Brook, Mackenzie Lord

Ash from Sheveluch Volcano moves off Alaskan coast, but remains a hazard for aircraft
Ash from Russian volcano has moved over open waters of the eastern Pacific, but Volcanic Ash Advisories remain in effect as aircraft need to continue to stay away from the ash.
Sheveluch Volcano

Asteroid explodes just north of Iceland
An asteroid known as 2022 EB5 exploded in the upper atmosphere north of Iceland at 21:22 UTC on March 11th....
North of Iceland
The Reykjavik Grapevine

A timeline of how once-in-a-century flooding unfolded across B.C.
Extreme rain swamped rivers and farmland across southern B.C. and triggered mudslides that blocked every major highway connecting the Lower Mainland to the rest of the country in November 2021. This is a timeline of the first week of the crisis.
Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada
A Timeline of How Once In a Century Flooding Unfolded Across B.C.

The field has been giving strawberries for 80 years, but not anymore – it's completely dead
All farmer Arild Stenhaug is left with is tiny berries that cannot be sold. He believes the cause is climate change. "We have to listen to a farmer who has lost everything," says a researcher.
Utskarpen, Rana, Nordland, Norway
NRK

Siberian wildfire smoke causes hazy skies in Southcentral Alaska
The haze is expected to subside by the middle of next week, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service said.
Anchorage, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

Unprecedented Heat Wave in the Bow Valley
While seasonal fluctuation is normal, there is evidence that this region is being strongly affected by climate change. The Municipality of Canmore’s Climate Change Adaptation Background Report and Resilience Plan (2016) shows that there has been a warming trend that is moving faster than the global average with the average annual temperature of the Bow Valley increasing.
Canmore, Alberta, Canada

A Massive Methane Reservoir Is Lurking Beneath the Sea
“The big finding was that we really have something that’s coming out from a deep pool,” said Steinbach. As the permafrost thaws, it opens up new pathways that allow methane to pass through.
Laptev Sea
Eos

Carbon dioxide spikes to critical record, halfway to doubling preindustrial levels
The concentration of the heat-trapping gas topped 420 parts per million, while the planet has warmed more than two degrees. This is the highest daily average concentration to be recorded. Data was collected at the Mauna Loa Observatory on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii
Washington Post

Arbutus trees under stress on Gabriola Island
In early April I observed what appears to be widespread disease of Arbutus trees (Arbutus menziesii) on the island. Leaf blight is a known factor affecting Arbutus trees; but I wonder if other factors such as climate change may also be contributing to what is perceived as a general decline of the species.
Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada

Russia's Arctic coast warmest since records started, says weather service
Parts of Northern Siberia were up to 7℃ warmer than normal in 2020. The warming is the most significant along parts of the North Siberian coast, and especially around the peninsulas of Taymyr and Yamal. This has been brought on, in part, by polar vortex on the Arctic coast.
Taymyr Peninsula, Russia
Eye on the Arctic

Amazing Aurora in Hope Alaska - Watch
Friday night was probably the best aurora display I've ever witnessed! I captured 4,883 exposures at 5 second intervals from just after 10pm until 5am the next morning.
Hope, Alaska, United States
YouTube

'No ordinary snow event': Saskatoon digging out from blizzard
People are advised to stay off the roads as city crews try to clear priority streets. Biggest snow event since the blizzard of 2007.
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
The Star Phoenix

World waterspout record set over Great Lakes
At least 88 waterspouts or funnels were spotted across the Great Lakes this week, setting a new world record, according to the International Centre for Waterspout Research (ICWR).
Eastern Great Lakes
CTV News

Storm causes flooding of cemetery
The cemetery in Eggedal has suffered major damage after floods and landslides. "Thank God that coffins and remains have not appeared," says the church guardian.
Eggedal kirke, Sigdal, Norway
NRK

Nordics detect elevated radiation levels around Baltic
Finland says the low concentrations of radioactive material found in air samples pose no danger.
Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland
Yle Uutiset

Enormous plume of dust predicted to reach U.S. all the way from the Sahara Desert
The dust should suppress Atlantic hurricane activity, at least temporarily.
Washington Post

Low air pressure paralyzes air traffic in North Norway - this is historic and extreme
Widerøe has had several flight cancellations this morning. This is because the air pressure in parts of Northern Norway are too low for planes to take off. In modern times, Widerøe has never had to ground planes due to low pressure.
Bodø, Nordland, Norway
NRK
Lise Forfang Hagen, Gisle Forland, Kirsti Kringstad, Emil H. Indsetviken

Dramatic warm-up happening in the Arctic and Nunavut
Temperatures will soar in the North, paticularly in Nunavut, for the next few days thanks to a rapidly retreating polar vortex combined with an influx of warm Pacific air.
Kugaaruk, Nunavut, Canada
CBC

Super-cold thunderstorm sets record with -111°C cloud temperature
According to a new study, -111°C is more than 30°C colder than typical storm clouds and is the coldest measurement of storm cloud temperature on record.
near Nauru
The Weather Network

Watch: Fireball in northern Finnish skies either meteor or space trash, expert says
Northern Finland was illuminated by a blazing fireball on Thursday night, which experts said was either a meteor or space trash.
Lohtaja, Central Ostrobothnia, Finland
Yle Uutiset

Mysterious Radioactive Cloud Over Europe Hints At Accident Farther East
Ruthenium-106, an artificial isotope, was detected in early October and is now gone. European safety officials say it poses no health risk to residents and that it might have come from Russia.
Southern Russia
NPR.org

Shiveluch Volcano Erupts in Eastern Russia
The Shiveluch volcano in Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka region has erupted, spewing ash some 13km above sea level.Officials from the region's Emergency Situations Ministry have confirmed that the ash is not expected to land on nearby settlements, Meanwhile a "red warning" has been issued to passing planes, urging them to avoid the site.The Shiveluch volcano is extimated to be between 60,000 and 70,000 years old.
Shiveluch Volcano, Kamchatka, Russia
The Moscow Times

Unusual Atmospheric Rainbow
Unusual atmospheric rainbow-like
Toksook Bay, Alaska, United States

Bering Sea Superstorm Among the Strongest Extratropical Cyclones on Record
Partially derived from former Super Typhoon Nuri, the typhoon's remnants joined up with the polar jet stream and a very strong disturbance in the mid-latitude belt of westerly winds, leading to explosive development of low pressure.
The Weather Channel

Meteors, UFOs or something else? Dawson City, Yukon, residents puzzled by recent sightings in night sky
Over the past few weeks, Dawson City, Yukon, residents have had their eyes on the sky. Some residents have reported seeing what they have described as a ball of fire flying through the sky before it disappears.
Dawson City, Yukon, Canada

'Incredibly bright' lunar halo photographed in Inuvik, N.W.T.
An Inuvik woman captured a picture of a lunar halo last week. When a retired professor of physics and astronomy saw the picture, he said what was impressive about it was how bright the halo was.
Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada

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