Floating substance possibly iron oxide, but GNWT wants to make sure.

The community of Aklavik, N.W.T., persevered when devastating floods led the government to attempt to relocate it. Now it faces another existential crisis as climate change thaws the permafrost, forever changing the community’s landscape and wildlife.

The opening of the famed Dettah ice road, a six-kilometre route that cuts across Yellowknife Bay, is typically opened on Dec, 24, according to a 20-year average. Yet a week-and-a-half later, there's still no word on when it will be operational.

The church is no outlier — several buildings in the community are affected by freeze-thaw cycle of permafrost. Even an iconic church is not immune from changing permafrost.

The remote community of roughly 600 people has been on flood watch for about a week and is the latest of several communities in the Northwest Territories to be affected by historic flooding on the Mackenzie River, caused by the spring breakup.

Spring is still months away in the Northwest Territories, but people are already looking ahead at the spring breakup season. In Aklavik, some see signs that could point to heavy flooding, a lot of snowfall, very high snow piles all over town and thick ice.

Lynx have attacked five dogs in Inuvik since late November, a trend a local wildlife officer calls surprising. The behaviour is unusual since lynx are typically reclusive animals and don't usually come into inhabited areas.

Anglers in Aklavik, N.W.T., are trying to figure out why there was a shortage of fish in local hotspots this year.

A coyote caught on camera in the Richardson Mountain range is the first spotted in the region in decades, a wildlife biologist says.

About 10 grizzly bears have been living at the community dump in Aklavik, N.W.T., this summer. Arey said a couple of bears were destroyed earlier this summer, but said more may need to be killed as residents are still seeing the bears coming into the community near homes.

A Department of Health news release states the boil water advisory is in relation to high turbidity levels in the river, or muddy water. The turbidity is caused by high water levels.

This spring’s closures on the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway are a result of unusually wet weather and drivers failing to respect road closures, according to engineers with the Northwest Territories Infrastructure Department.

Two pink salmon have been found near Fort Good Hope, N.W.T., 260 kilometres farther up the Mackenzie River than ever reported.

Freda Alunik says it looks 'just like spring' at her camp near the Mackenzie River.

Egret near Inuvik observed by numerous folks in Inuvik.

Conservation officers believe the same bear was involved in two recent encounters. The most recent involved a motorcyclist forced to back up by the approaching bear.

Chris Burn at Carleton University is tracking the growing cost of maintaining Yukon’s Dempster Highway as warmer weather brings more landslides, washouts and other challenges.

For years now, buildings in Inuvik have been sinking due to thawing permafrost. It's part of a worrying trend across the Arctic, writes David Michael Lamb.

The runway, built in 1958, is over-top of permafrost and frozen soils.

It wasn’t part of your imagination if you thought it was warmer this summer in the Northwest Territories. Inuvik experienced its seventh warmest summer on record according to data from Environment and Climate Change Canada.

A permafrost scientist in the N.W.T. is leading an experiment that compacts snow near the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway to see if that will slow down permafrost thaw and protect buildings and roads built atop it.

The hamlet said it's declaring a state of emergency because flooding from the Peel River cut off access to the community's airport, and because access to fresh water could be "inaccessible in the imminent future." 

From the thickness of the ice to moose migration and pelt quality, hunters and trappers say the late arrival of cold weather in the N.W.T. is "going to have effects, down the line."

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.

An unusual bird was sighted in the Yukon Flats village of Chalkyitsik recently. The raptor, uncommon to the state, has also been spotted in a few other Alaska locations. Bird biologist Jim Johnson says there’s broader evidence that the nomadic turkey vulture is expanding north.

Jim Hollandsworth of Arctic Village said he encountered the bear in early January. He said the bear had tried to get into his cabin about 32 kilometers from the village.

A dead hare was observed in Interior Alaska that was infested with a native species of tick. Wildlife officials are asking residents to keep an eye out for ticks on pets and for signs of tick infestation in large mammals, such as hair loss in moose.

The world’s permafrost holds vast stores of carbon. What happens when it thaws?

"Currently we don't have any studies specifically looking at what factors are affecting those demographics," said Jason Caikoski, a wildlife biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Listen now

Water levels are 5 feet below normal.

Smoke from a handful of fires in northeast Alaska and across the border in Canada drifted south to Fairbanks on Tuesday and is expected to linger through Wednesday night.

The remote Arctic tundra may seem like the last place on Earth human pollution should be causing a problem — yet it’s filled with mercury contamination.

Of the 89 wildfires burning across Alaska right now, several are in the northern part of the state, either in the Arctic or near its southern boundary.

The most recent study noted that Arctic thaw is occurring one to two weeks earlier than the first study, and the North Slope growing season is lengthening by 15 to 21 days. At the same time, however, caribou are maintaining the same reproductive timeline.

Downriver from Arctic Village

Poor ice quality on the Teedriinjik (Chandalar) River

Milbert's tortoiseshell caterpillar infestation

11-27-12 Still no snow or Yukon ice - Fort Yukon, Alaska, USA

11-1-12 Late salmon run - Fort Yukon, Alaska, USA

Yukon Flats community dealing with river erosion and landscape changes that are threatening the loss of traditional harvesting areas.

We are worried about the effects of large infestation and about wildlife.

Ruben Henry won't ever forget the day the Chandalar River ran red along the banks of Arctic Village. It was the talk of the tight-knit, Brooks Range town, and no one had could remember it ever happening before.

Mountain lion sighting on the Chandalar River

First trucks made week-long pitstop on river bank due to overflow on newly completed winter road. On the first attempt to cross the overflow, a truck’s front tires went through approximately eight inches and the vehicle had to be towed out, in the report. No one was hurt, and there was no damage done.

A lack of chum salmon is causing pain in riverside communities of Yukon and Alaska, as mushers are left without a traditional source of food.

Wolves don't typically linger around the community, they're hungry because the caribou are all in Alaska right now. There's also little snow around Old Crow so it may be harder for wolves to hunt moose. About ten dogs have been killed.

26 fires are burning in the Old Crow district but Yukon Wildland Fire says the community is not at risk

Tom Jung and Dave Mossop were monitoring falcons on Yukon's Arctic coastal plain when they spotted a beaver dam, made of shrubs. 'This was a bit of a unique observation.'

These berries were on a south slope in a recently burned area. Seems early to me!

12-21-12 Freezing waterlines - Evansville, Alaska, USA

Severe permafrost thaw and erosion along Koyukuk River banks.

Between the fall of 2021 and the fall of 2022, APU students observed a dramatic decrease in the number of Peregrine Falcons between Eagle and Circle, Alaska.

Bird observed well beyond its typical range.