The warming climate in Alaska and across the circumpolar North is creating new health and safety risks for people, animals and ecosystems. This piece is the part of a series that explores zoonotic diseases and other hazards emerging in a warming and thawing Alaska. One warm June day, Joey Ausel found an odd speck

"He could have picked it up in the backyard or on an earlier walk to the park."

Deer ticks have made the jump from the mountains to city backyards, putting your dog at risk of contracting Lyme disease in the summer heat.