Coverage

According to a 2025 forest health report for the Northwest Territories, drought‑driven pest outbreaks and an established aspen disease have impacted more than 800,000 hectares of forest, while flooding has killed over 60,000 hectares along the Slave River. These findings underscore rising risks to the region’s forest ecosystems and associated economic activities.

NovaGold Resources Inc. has agreed to buy John Paulson’s 40% stake in the Donlin Gold project near Crooked Creek, Alaska, making it the sole owner of a giant undeveloped bullion mine. The all‑share deal will create a new Delaware‑based parent company slated for a New York Stock Exchange listing and values the combined business at roughly $4.2 billion.

Novagold Resources will acquire Paulson Advisors’ remaining stake in Alaska’s Donlin Gold mine through an all‑stock transaction that creates NovaGold Corp., a U.S.-listed entity holding roughly $40 million oz of high‑grade gold resources, and is expected to close in Q4 2026.

A cold Arctic air mass moved into northern and interior Alaska during the second week of June, bringing an increased number of lightning strikes to higher elevations in the Brooks Range.

Beaver activity has expanded into Alaska’s treeless tundra since the 1980s, creating over 10,000 ponds that are reshaping permafrost and revealing a measurable environmental shift visible from space.

A drone from a Turkish expedition captured the sea‑ice edge in Svalbard on July 16, 2026, offering new observational evidence of Arctic ice extent.

A new preprint documents highly pathogenic H5N5 infections in a polar bear and Atlantic walrus from Svalbard, showing the virus is spreading among Arctic marine mammals.

Rosneft is constructing an oil pipeline on the Taymyr Peninsula, part of its Vostok Oil project. Arctida highlights risks posed by thin Arctic ice, underscoring potential operational and environmental challenges for the megaproject.

The external review of Canada’s $144 million Nutrition North program calls for a guaranteed livable income to address widespread food insecurity in Nunavut, where 56 % of households and 68 % of children are affected, and proposes broad subsidies, transportation cost negotiations, and runway upgrades to reduce prices.

A review of the $144‑million Nutrition North programme recommends a guaranteed livable income and suggests broad subsidies, better transport costs, and runway upgrades to improve food access in Canada’s isolated Arctic communities.

The study shows juvenile Arctic char can distinguish siblings from non‑siblings using odor cues linked to major histocompatibility complex variation, suggesting genetic immunity signals shape early social interactions.

A documentary by Tatiana Ulengova follows indigenous groups in a remote Russian Arctic camp, showing how they endure the region’s extreme cold.

Fog has become increasingly common along the Kara Sea coast since the 1990s, raising visibility below critical thresholds for large Arc7 tankers and creating new navigation hazards on the Northeast Passage.

An agreement by the Interior Department will permanently relax rules for oil and gas lease sales in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, potentially opening up previously restricted drilling activity.

Scientists uncovered fossilized remains of the eight‑petaled Arctic flower Dryas octopetala in soil layers of southern Sweden, offering direct evidence that this species once grew outside its present northern habitat.

Former Nunakput MLA Herb Nakimayak won a four‑year term as president of the Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada, defeating Kilikvak Kabloona by an 11‑to‑2 margin in Iqaluit. The election took place during the council’s 15th General Assembly and may shape upcoming discussions on Indigenous rights and Arctic sovereignty.

Sea‑ice decline and increased oil‑and‑gas pollution are changing the chemical makeup of Arctic air, while existing climate models fail to capture key sea‑ice and cloud interactions.

A climate scientist reports field observations in Svalbard—the fastest‑warming Arctic region—highlighting rapid temperature rise and altered sea ice dynamics, underscoring the urgency of understanding Arctic climate change.

The Tlicho Government’s 22nd annual gathering in Whati reviewed its four‑year plan to advance economic self‑sufficiency—including a push for the Arctic Economic Security Corridor—while addressing housing, health, addiction and youth capacity building; the event also highlighted citizen participation challenges and showcased cultural traditions such as a two‑week canoe trek.

The NWT and Nunavut governments declined to sign Canada’s new direct‑to‑consumer alcohol agreement, arguing the measure clashes with local restrictions and self‑determination priorities in the territories.

Manitoba Conservation officers Vitalii Skrynnyk and Owen Jones kept a pod of seven stranded belugas safe at Churchill’s beach while waiting for the tide to return, using bear bangers to deter polar bears and turning calves over to keep breathing passages clear.

A review found that the Universal Service Fund continues to pay over $340,000 a year for internet service on Adak Island’s abandoned homes—most of which are unoccupied and not using the connection—even as residents rely on private satellite services.