The Northern Climate Observer

The Northern
Climate Observer

Outbreak Averted - in the summer of 2018 hundreds of harbor and gray seals were stranding on beaches all along the coast of New England. By December, the number had grown to over 1,400. The likely cause was phocine distemper virus or PDV, which is closely related to canine distemper virus. Fast forward to 2019 and an article published in the journal Natural Communications. A study by VanWormer et al. found that phocine distemper virus had likely spread from the North Atlantic to the North Pacific as a byproduct of diminished sea ice and the mingling of Arctic marine mammal populations. The paper established that phocine distemper was at large in Alaska, which raised the question, could Alaska experience the same kind of event that has occurred in New England? This week we feature an article by Diana Haecker describing recent efforts in Gambell, Alaska to contain an unusual outbreak of canine distemper in the local dog population. Twenty dogs died during the outbreak and the community scrambled to get another 130 dogs vaccinated. Caring for local dogs was the first, but not the only concern. Gambell relies on seals as a subsistence resource, and preventing any chance of transmission between dogs and seals was a high priority. As a community health issue, this was both a local triumph, and a cautionary tale underlining the need for zoonotic disease surveillance systems, and the standing need for greater access to veterinary care in rural Alaska. From the LEO Resilience Desk, please also see the High Country News article about efforts to improve food security, with an initiative to expand agriculture to more Alaska Native communities. Mike Brubaker, Editor

	Gambell gets distemper outbreak under control Gambell, Alaska, United States Diana Haecker / The Nome Nugget / May 28, 2021 The community of Gambell fought a distemper outbreak among its dog population this spring and managed to squash the epidemic in its early onset. Distemper is a deadly disease that can afflict dogs and wildlife alike and also has been documented in the North Atlantic to jump from dogs to marine mammals like seals. Read article on The Nome Nugget
	Probably the world's northernmost observed narrow-bordered bee hawk-moth Sjona, Rana, Nordland, Norway Andreas Budalen / NRK / May 23, 2021 Tine Aastrøm Lorentzen was on a trip in Rana and noticed what she thought was a bumblebee, but it was suspiciously silent. "It looked like a crossover of a bumblebee and a butterfly. I studied it more closely and found that I had to film this, because I had never seen anything like this before," she tells NRK. The latin name of that insect is Hemaris tityus. Read article on NRK
	Red bloom in bay isn’t harmful Homer, Alaska, United States Michael Armstrong / Homer News / May 26, 2021 However, if ingested by oysters and other shellfish, the sudden burst of a ciliate form of zooplankton — or animal plankton — called Mesodinium rubrum could turn their meat pink. Read article on Homer News
	State of emergency declared in Aklavik, N.W.T., as flood waters rise Aklavik, Northwest Territories, Canada Liny Lamberink / CBC / May 30, 2021 The remote community of roughly 600 people has been on flood watch for about a week and is the latest of several communities in the Northwest Territories to be affected by historic flooding on the Mackenzie River, caused by the spring breakup. Read article on CBC
	Will a Native-led initiative spur an agricultural revolution in rural Alaska? Nenana, Alaska, United States Max Graham / High Country News / A grassroots project to build biomass-heated greenhouses aims to alleviate food insecurity in the communities most affected by it. Read article on High Country News

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
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