The Northern Climate Observer

The Northern
Climate Observer

Gambling on a Bering Strait In early January the High North News reported that record cold temperatures in Asia and delays in shipping through the Panama Canal were creating natural gas shortages. To fill the demand Russian energy company Novatek decided to gamble on a new shipping strategy, delivering LNG thought the Northern Shipping Route. Historically, the sea route across Northern Russia has been unnavigable in winter, for all but heavy icebreakers. But Novatek, betting on a little help from climate change and a partnership with Russian nuclear icebreaker Atomflot, forged ahead with their plan and a series of tanker shipments to Japan and China. On January 15, the Nome Nugget reported that the first tanker had passed through the Bering Strait. Remarkably, there were no Atomflot icebreakers in sight, at least for this leg of the trip. This despite the fact that the Bering Strait is typically impassible due to ice cover by February. Then at some point before entering the Bering Strait, one of the vessels ran into problems. According to Kommersant.ru, the Nikolay Yevgenov lost one of its three propulsion systems on January 16, the result of ice damage. The speed of the vessel dropped to three knots, but it continued to make way and entered the Bering Strait on January 18. The vessel, carrying a full cargo of natural gas, made its entire trip through the Chukchi and Bering Sea under power; finally arriving at the Chinese port of Jingtang around January 28th. For residents on both sides of the Bering Strait, this should be a wakeup call. Climate change has delivered a new threat and despite the many dangers and uncertainties, shipping companies are willing to take the risk even in the dark of winter. Mike Brubaker, Editor

	Tanker “Nikolay Yevgenov” damaged by ice on the Northern Sea Route kommersant.ru / January 19, 2021 One of three propulsion units on the tanker “Nikolay Yevgenov” was damaged on January 16 as the vessel approached the Bering Strait. After having sailed with a speed of about 9 knots from Sabetta, the tanker suddenly slowed to 3 knots. Read article on kommersant.ru
	Bacteria behind sea star wasting disease Erin Garcia de Jesus / Science News / January 20, 2021 For years, researchers thought an infectious pathogen was behind sea star wasting disease. A new study found that multiple species of bacteria deplete oxygen from the water effectively suffocating sea stars. These microbes thrive when there are high levels of organic matter in warm water and create the low oxygen conditions. Read article on Science News
	Salmon Spawning for the First Time in 80 Years in the Upper Columbia River Andy Corbley / Good News Network / January 22, 2021 The Grand Coulee and Chief Joseph dams don’t include fish ladders, and so in August the Colville Tribes released 100 salmon 35 miles upstream of the two dams in an attempt to see if they would survive and spawn. Read article on Good News Network
	Snowy Owl Is Spotted in Central Park, for First Time in 130 Years Manhattan, New York, United States Andy Newman / New York Times / January 28, 2021 The hordes came running and the snow-white raptor became the latest celebrity bird of Manhattan. Some enthusiasts took Manhattan Bird Alert to task for revealing the bird’s exact whereabouts to 38,000 followers. By Thursday morning, the Central Park snowy was nowhere to be found. Read article on New York Times
	Disease killing songbirds throughout the region Spokane, Washington, United States Spokesman.com / January 30, 2021 A recent outbreak of salmonellosis is leading to the deaths of wild birds throughout the northern United States. The current die-off affects finches such as pine siskins as well as other songbirds. Read article on Spokesman.com
	Sweden to build reindeer bridges over roads and railways Sweden Jon Henley / the Guardian / January 29, 2021 Sweden is to build up to a dozen bridges so reindeer can safely cross railway lines and major roads in the north of the country as global heating forces them to roam further afield in search of food. Read article on the Guardian

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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Northern Climate Observer

The Northern
Climate Observer