CBC Radio’s What on Earth travelled to Yukon this summer to explore how a warming climate has threatened chinook salmon, endangering not just the species but a cultural keystone for some Indigenous communities.

Winter has taken a brief holiday in southern Yukon this week, with a sudden spell of spring-like weather making for wet, slushy conditions — and setting the stage for some slippery roads when winter conditions return later this week.

The slump is so close to the Alaska Highway, the Yukon government is moving the road, creating a new section that will help protect the only year-round road linking parts of the Yukon, and the U.S. state of Alaska, to the rest of the continent. 

Takhini River resident Georgina Widney said she is packed and ready to go if the evacuation alert for her area in the Ibex Valley changes to an evacuation order.

Traffic in Whitehorse will be difficult for anyone looking to get in and out of the city for the Easter long week after a landslide on the escarpment early Saturday morning forced a section of Robert Service Way to be closed until further notice.

A French tourist in Whitehorse somehow defied the odds last week when she fell through thin ice into a lake, several times, and still managed to pull herself out of the water to safety, unharmed.

Southern Yukon is basking in some unusually mild January weather this week, with temperatures climbing well above the freezing point on Wednesday and expected to stay that way into Thursday.

The Yukon saw an unusually warm Thanksgiving weekend — there were multiple record highs set throughout the territory. Local weather watcher says a high pressure ridge creating warm and dry conditions was the cause.

The North Klondike Highway remains closed from Stewart Crossing to Pelly Crossing after fire breached the highway, the Yukon government has confirmed.

Yukon fire crews are targetting wildfires near Carmacks and the Finlayson Lake fire, with the hopes of reopening a key highway when fire becomes less extreme and visibility improves.

June 20, 2022 The wastewater treatment plant in Carmacks, Yukon, is at risk of flooding. The village has issued an evacuation alert for homes served by that plant.

Emergency measures organization has issued advisories for Upper Liard, Carmacks and Ross River areas.

The Yukon is the latest place to be hit with avian flu cases as an outbreak continues to spread across the country. Officials from the department of environment said in a press release Friday that two waterfowl carcasses in southern Yukon tested positive for the H5N1 virus strand. The Yukon government is asking residents to report sightings of sick or dead birds to their TIPP line at 1-800-661-0525.

Robert Service Way and the Millennium Trail and the Airport Trail near downtown Whitehorse are temporarily closed due to an apparent landslide on the escarpment around 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Of the 92 pools of mosquitoes tested, 30 had at least one mosquito that tested positive for California serogroup viruses. There has been one confirmed diagnosis of meningoencephalitis — a severe neurological condition — caused by the snowshoe hare virus. There have been no positive cases yet of West Nile Virus.

After a black bear was shot dead in her front yard, a Whitehorse resident is concerned that people are inadvertently luring bears into the neighbourhood by feeding wildlife.

"River is running bank full with all gravel bars and low islands underwater."

The Yukon River Quest has been cancelled for the second year in a row. When the river is high like that the banks are being eroded, there is no place to pull out so if you do have a problem it's really dangerous indeed.

The heat wave sweeping through the N.W.T. and Yukon will have a major impact on permafrost thaw in both territories, experts warn. 

Environment Canada says this winter's snowfall in Whitehorse is in near record-breaking territory. It's the most snow the city has seen since 1972.