The Northern Climate Observer

The Northern
Climate Observer

November Breakup Finnmark is the most northern part of Norway, bordering on the Norway Sea to the south and the Barents Sea to the north. This year November has brought warm temperatures across the country and in the far north; it has been the warmest in 100 years. There was a cold period in October when the ice on the Tana River first formed. Since then there has been three different breakup events. Usually break up on the Tana occurs in May. One of these events occurred on November 18th and was filmed by Bernt Olsen. According to Olsen, there have been breakups occasionally in autumn, but having two or three is very unusual. In this edition, you can read about breakups on the Tana River and about unusual ice conditions in Fort Smith, Bethel, and Vladivostok. Mike Brubaker, Editor

	Spring phenomenon in November: There goes the ice for the third time this fall Tana, Norway Knut-Sverre Horn / NRK / November 19, 2020 The warmest November in over 100 years has had unusual consequences in Finnmark. The video shows the third breakup this autumn. Read article on NRK
	State of emergency in Russian Far East as ice rain causes collapse of key systems Vladivostok, Primorskiy, Russia Siberian Times / November 19, 2020 Overnight ice rain and north winds turned Vladivostok, Russia's Pacific capital, and most of the Primorye region into a frozen land with hundreds of power lines cut by wet snow. The storm left 120,000 people without electricity and many without heating and water. Read article on Siberian Times
	No Kuskokwim Ice Road Yet Bethel, Alaska, United States S. Grady Deaton, Johanna Eurich / KYUK / November 19, 2020 The weather may be cold, but it’s too soon to get out on the river ice. The ice is forming up better than it did two years ago, when the winter was the warmest on record, but it is not freezing as fast or as well as last winter, when conditions were near-perfect. Read article on KYUK
	There's gonna be a lot of open water N.W.T. elder warns amid delayed freeze-up conditions Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, Canada Wanda McLeod / CBC / November 20, 2020 After record-high water levels and rates of flow in rivers, lakes and streams in the Northwest Territories this summer, the government is warning the problem is likely to persist into winter. Read article on CBC
	In Southeast, this year's salmon harvest fell by more than half Wrangell, Alaska, United States Sage Smiley, KSTK - Wrangell / KTOO / November 10, 2020 Southeast’s total salmon harvest was 19 million fewer fish than last year. There was a drop in harvest for every species except chinook, which increased by a few thousand fish. Read article on KTOO
	Hokkaido city deploys 'monster wolf' robot to scare bears away from residential areas Takikawa, Hokkaido, Japan The Mainichi / November 5, 2020 For years in Takikawa there was perhaps one bear sighting every few years, but since May 28 there have already been a total of 10 this year. Read article on The Mainichi
	England's largest grey seal colony set to welcome record 4,000 new pups Wells-next-the-Sea, England, United Kingdom Evening Express / November 18, 2020 England's largest grey seal colony is expected to see a record baby boom of 4,000 new arrivals this year. The seals thrived on the low levels of disturbance and mortality of the pups in the first few weeks of life, and a lack of natural predators on the long shingle spit where they have their young. Read article on Evening Express
	Emaciated fin whales wash up dead on French shores Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez, Pays de la Loire, France Reuters / November 17, 2020 Marine biologists are investigating the deaths of at least six whales found washed up on Frances western shores with no apparent sign of having been hit by a ship or caught in a trawler's net. Read article on Reuters

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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