The Northern Climate Observer

The Northern
Climate Observer

Shades of Abundance - Each month I do a roll-up of all the articles above 54 degrees north latitude that were posted to LEO Network. This August the most frequent category was, "unusual abundance." Not typically a leader, but one that did resonate with conditions here in Southcentral Alaska. It was a summer almost absent of extreme weather and perhaps the best conditions in years for salmon fishing and berries. The Kenai River was valhalla for sockeye salmon, whether you were using rod and reel, dipnet, even bare handed if you were so inclined. Many were the reports of fishers catching their quotas in a matter of minutes. It was crazy. The berry picking was also outstanding. Salmonberries, crowberries, huckleberries, and blueberries were all sweet and plentiful. There was also abundance in other plants. After years when fireweed was largely absent, the hills were again pink with their blossoms. The pushkis (wild celery) were also extrordinary, reaching heights of over six feet in many places. So seeing unusual abundance as the leading event category seemed fitting. But the majority of the abundance stories were not from Alaska. Most were from Iceland and Northern Europe; where the salmon stories were about invasives pinks and escaped farm salmon, and from Svalbard, Norway, where residents enjoyed a bumper crop of cloud berries.

Otherwise August brought a lot of extremes to most corners of the circumpolar north. From Alert Bay to Anadyr the headlines were about drought, wildfire and extreme weather. Southcentral Alaska it turns out was the anomaly. Rain drenched Fairbanks, set records in Kodiak, and caused flooding in Allakaket. Juneau narrowly evaded a second year of severe glacier flooding thanks to newly installed barriers. A landslide in Tracy Arm generated the largest tsunami in over a decade. Other notable events included wildfires in NWT, Northern Finland, Yakutia, and Chukotka. August was also a month for high temperatures with Iceland posting a 100 year record. The heat and drought in Sweden required officials to implement water conservation measures in Stockholm and other areas. There were also a lot of posts about bear - human interactions, in Alaska, Finland and Norway. You can see all of the posts for August here and read some of the select articles in this month's newsletter. Mike Brubaker, Editor

What's happening with the weather in Tana?

Tana, Finnmark, Norway

Ingrid Elise Trosten; Anne Ragnhild Porsanger / NRK Sápmi / August 5, 2025

Tana and the rest of Finnmark are experiencing an unusual late-summer heat wave with temperatures around 30 °C, leading locals to swim in the warmed Tanaelva.

Read article on NRK Sápmi

King salmon’s disappearance has changed the Kenai River, but a soaring sockeye run is keeping it in business

Kenai River, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States

Anchorage Daily News / August 9, 2025

The traditional king salmon fishery on the Kenai River has collapsed for a third straight year, but unprecedented sockeye runs have buoyed local guides, processors and businesses—while also creating new infrastructure and sustainability challenges.

Read article on Anchorage Daily News

Bear ravages Robert Severin's sheep flock

Lakselv, Porsanger, Norway

Tor Kjetil Kristoffersen / iFinnmark / August 1, 2025

A brown bear has killed six sheep at a farm in Lakselv, Porsanger, and the farmer claims authorities are delaying permission to shoot the animal.

Read article on iFinnmark

Counted a hundred farmed salmon in the lower part of Haukadalsá

Haukadalsá, Dalabyggð, Iceland

Hallgerður Kolbrún E. Jónsdóttir / visir.is / August 14, 2025

An inspector from the Icelandic Fisheries Agency counted around 100 farmed salmon in the lower section of Haukadalsá, marking the largest occurrence of escaped farmed salmon in an Icelandic river, and plans are underway for removal operations including using anglers and Norwegian divers.

Read article on visir.is

Avian influenza detected in Tromsø

Tromsø, Troms og Finnmark, Norway

Malin Straumsnes / NRK Troms og Finnmark / August 14, 2025

Avian influenza was confirmed in four seagulls in Tromsø, Norway, prompting authorities to advise the public against handling dead or sick birds without protection.

Read article on NRK Troms og Finnmark

As a mountain crumbled Sunday, Alaska experienced its largest landslide-caused tsunami in a decade

Tracy Arm, Alaska, United States

Ned Rozell / Anchorage Daily News / August 15, 2025

Seismic stations more than 600 miles away picked up the rumbling as a mountainside collapsed upon South Sawyer Glacier and into the ocean at the head of Tracy Arm.

Read article on Anchorage Daily News

Century’s Heat Record Broken

Egilsstaðir, Eastern Region, Iceland

Rafn Ágúst Ragnarsson / Vísir / August 16, 2025

A temperature of 29.8 °C was recorded at Egilsstaðir Airport on August 16, 2025, marking the highest August temperature measured in Iceland this century.

Read article on Vísir

Found large amounts of cloudberries

Colesbukta, Svalbard, Norway

Tare Reklev Øverbø / Svalbardposten / August 26, 2025

Researchers report unusually abundant cloudberries in Svalbard this year, with monitoring at Colesbukta indicating the berries did well. The exact locations are being kept secret and picking is not allowed due to protections.

Read article on Svalbardposten

Rising river floods Allakaket, prompts disaster declaration for area

Allakaket, Alaska, United States

Jack Barnwell / Fairbanks Daily News-Miner / August 29, 2025

Heavy rain caused the Koyukuk River to flood Allakaket, prompting Alaska’s governor to declare a disaster, evacuations of residents, and emergency aid operations. Nearby areas also faced high water, with Denali National Park campgrounds briefly reopening before being closed again.

Read article on Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Fort Providence ordered to evacuate as wildfire bears down

Fort Providence, Northwest Territories, Canada

Derek Neary / NNSL Media / August 31, 2025

An out-of-control wildfire within two kilometres of Fort Providence prompted a full evacuation order, with residents directed to Hay River as winds threaten to push flames toward the community.

Read article on NNSL Media

The Northern Climate Observer is published by the Center for Climate and Health. We track news coverage from across the circumpolar north and provide readers with a curated roundup of climate change related events. Thank you for reading our newsletter and for paying attention to our changing world.

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Northern Climate Observer

The Northern Climate Observer is published weekly by the Center for Climate and Health. We track news from across the circumpolar north and provide readers with a curated roundup of climate change related events.

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