“Last year we got several reports from tourists and scientists that they saw around six walruses dead here on the west side of Svalbard. Unfortunately, we couldn’t sample them as the dead walruses drifted away by the time we got to the place. But it’s not normal to get so many reported dead walruses in such a small area," said Christian Lydersen, senior scientist at the Norwegian Polar Institute. Now samples (collected by a Station Manager in July 2023) have tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza.
By Diana Haecker
Researchers stepping off the research vessel Norseman II in Nome last weekend, brought significant news of having found very high concentrations of a phytoplankton called Alexandrium catenella in regional waters. Alexandrium is an algae that can produce saxitoxins, which can cause dangerous paralytic shellfish poisoning in people. The scientists issued an advisory, notifying Norton Sound Health Corporation, UAF Sea Grant and the Alaska Division of Public Health.
There has been a surge of plastic trash that has been washing up on beaches in Nome and across the Bering Strait Region.
Intense rainfall in Russia's Far East Primorye region caused floods, power outages, and evacuations, with water levels exceeding the norm by eightfold in some areas, following previous flooding caused by tropical storm Khanun.
Reports are coming in about hundreds of dead birds from Hammerfest in the west to Murmansk in the east. A zone with a radius of five kilometers is closed and guards are in place round-the-clock.
A moose that was killed in Teller last week had been infected with rabies, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game confirmed.
By Julia Lerner Richard Jessee, a longtime summer miner, survived an aggressive bear attack near his cabin last week.
As experts are expecting that the water level of the Meuse river will continue to rise until noon and the water has starting flowing over the dyke, the mayor of Maaseik in the Limburg province urged people to stay away.
The weekend was marked by cold sunny days and stunning aurora displays at night, but then the weather took another turn. By Tuesday morning, an east wind was howling and blowing snow sideways. The week started looking like a repeat of the last.
The mayor of the southern Russian city of Orenburg urged residents to evacuate immediately on Friday as water in the nearby Ural River reached critically dangerous levels and was not expected to recede until next week.
With homes dilapidating, shores eroding and staircases falling off the houses, Point Lay residents are living through some of the most severe consequences of the warming climate in Alaska.
A localized round of heavy rain has wreaked havoc on the St. Johnsbury, Vermont, area, washing out some roads and damaging homes. This same area was hit hard with flooding just 19 days prior as the remnants of Beryl crossed North America. About two dozen rescues took place during the latest round of flooding and officials warned that the impacts could worsen as creeks rise further or more rain arrives.
President Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency last Wednesday, several days after 21,000 metric tons of diesel leaked from a collapsed fuel tank outside the city of Norilsk.The pollution now risks running north into the Arctic Ocean.
A research vessel, Norseman II, was trapped in unusually dense sea ice for 14 days off the Seward Peninsula coast during a Pacific walrus study, but is now en route to Nome for repairs.
Graves at the historic St. Michael cemetery in Alaska are eroding due to increased storms and erosion, prompting an archaeologist to recover exposed remains and coordinate efforts to re-bury them. Tom Wolforth’s prime mission was to appropriately handle the remains and make sure they could be reburied. He has been working closely with the tribe and the municipality to address their concerns. One concern, Martin said, was that these exposed remains could pose a risk of disease, especially if the dead had been buried during the time of the 1918 flu pandemic. But Wolforth assured them that if properly handled this shouldn’t be a problem.
Fuel shipments normally take place during autumn from departure ports such as Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. However, last fall saw a sudden freeze-up and quickly accumulating sea-ice on the Northern Sea Route, including the Kara Sea. Of the two rescued barges, one contained 7,000 tons of diesel fuel, while the other was loaded with 170 tons of kerosene.
Floodwaters in Tomsk region threatens to submerge the river banks in Seversk where highly radioactive liquid waste from the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons program for decades were injected into two unprotected underground reservoirs.
The isotope measured in air in Tromsø for now is unknown. The isotope comes from a nuclear reactor, and is used in medial diagnostic.
A city building in Little Diomede, Alaska, slid off its foundation, threatening the structural integrity of adjacent buildings and critical services, with the community seeking immediate assistance.
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