Siberian Heat Wave is Driving Massive Wildfires, Sea Ice Melt in Arctic. The World Meteorological Organization warned on Friday that temperatures in Siberia were about 18 degrees [10 degrees Celsius] above average in June as devastating fires rage in the Arctic and ice melts off the Arctic coast. "The Arctic is heating more than twice as fast as the global average, impacting local populations and ecosystems and with global repercussions," WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a statement. CNBC

 

Hottest Ever Day Recorded in Arctic Svalbard. The maximum temperature in Longyearbyen tends to fall between 13C and 17C. Before today, it had only once ever reached 20C. That was back on 16 July, 1979, when a temperature of 21.3C was measured. Today, this record was smashed as the temperature soared to 21.7C (71.06F). The measurement was taken at the Longyearbyen airport weather station between 5pm and 6pm.  Life in Norway

 

Water and Sewer Deficiencies Make Regional Villages More Vulnerable to the Spread of COVID-19. With COVID-19 bearing down on rural Alaska, deficiencies in basic infrastructure like water and sewer systems are becoming more and more pressing. In some Bering Strait villages, no water or sewer delivery infrastructure exists at all, and concern grows that the lack of water makes already vulnerable communities even more susceptible to the virus. Joe Garnie has lived in Teller his whole life and says the village has never had any sort of water delivery system. "Nobody has plumbing," he said. "Nobody has flush toilets." Instead, people use ATVs, trailers or jugs to haul water from the single communal washeteria to their homes on a daily basis. To use the bathroom, most people have a honey bucket - or a cardboard box and a trash bag, for those who can't afford a bucket - which is collected and disposed of periodically by village employees. Nome Nugget

 

Oily Substance Found Near Savoonga Remains a Mystery. About a month ago, residents of St. Lawrence Island found a patch of oily, white goo on the beach, along with some dead sea birds covered in the substance. The birds and the material that seems to have killed them have since been sent to two different national laboratories, but scientists are still stumped about what the material is and how it got there. The oil was first discovered on June 17, on a beach 20 miles from Savoonga. Residents found a dead eider duck covered in the substance and reported the incident back to the village. When they returned on the same day to take samples, they found eight short-tailed shearwaters and a partially scavenged puffin, all of which had been covered by the oil. Nome Nugget

 

Arctic's Beluga Whale Harvest Challenged on Multiple Fronts in Canada. And it's not for a lack of whales - the population of eastern Beaufort Sea belugas remain in relative abundance at about 40,000 animals. A recent study out of the University of Manitoba documents what's behind the decline of the Aklavik hunt. It was a community-driven project. Radio Canada International