Water managers in the Columbia Basin are expecting a slightly below average runoff in the months leading to September, but so far it has been gradual, mostly due to cooler temperatures.
Biologists led by the University of Iowa discovered the presence of the invasive New Zealand mud snail by detecting their DNA in waters they were inhabiting incognito. The researchers employed a technique called environmental DNA to reveal the snails’ existence, showing the method can be used to detect and control new, unknown incursions by the snail and other invasive species.
A new study shows per-area greenhouse gas emissions from the world’s water reservoirs are around 29% higher than suggested by previous studies, but that practical measures could be taken to help reduce that impact.
Artificial intelligence systems that ask users to pause to consider AI’s energy consumption and environmental impacts are likely to reduce unnecessary AI use, new research by Oregon State University suggests.
At least 51 whales have died along the West Coast already this year, according to an analysis of public data and media reports by the Center for Biological Diversity.
The Sin Nombre virus — a hantavirus that can cause a deadly respiratory disease in humans — may be more widespread among rodent populations in parts of the Pacific Northwest than previously recognized.
A new study by University of Victoria and Pacific Salmon Foundation scientists has uncovered what adult Chinook salmon in the Salish Sea are eating—and revealed diet can differ according to region.
The study, led by UVic PhD student Wesley Greentree and published recently in Fisheries Oceanography, analyzed the contents of salmon stomachs to assess salmon diet. Greentree found that year-round, herring are the most important food for adult Chinook salmon throughout the Salish Sea. Anchovy were often found in stomachs collected near Howe Sound and sand lance were important in Victoria and Sidney.
Restoring dry forests in the Pacific Northwest, shaped by frequent low-intensity fire and widely spaced trees, often means thinning dense stands that accumulated after decades of fire suppression. This can make forests healthier and more resilient to wildfire, but it can raise concerns about protecting wildlife that depend on dense tree cover, including the northern spotted owl.
A new system combines decades of fisheries data and statistics to visualize West Coast fisheries and how they have changed over time.
The Pacific Fishing Effort Mapping Project was led by researchers at NOAA, state wildlife departments, and the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission. It consolidates location and catch data from fishing vessels with landings and economic figures into revealing maps and charts of major West Coast fisheries. It then shows how they may be affected by other ocean uses. For instance, the new system turns data on the catch value of groundfish into a landscape of colors depicting the West Coast, where the highest value catch areas stand out boldly.
Salmon are becoming river ‘ghosts’ as brutal droughts and violent floods cause unprecedented losses on their treacherous journey to the Pacific Ocean, scientists say.
A major study 10.1111/gcb.70854 led by the University of Essex, NOAA Fisheries, University of California, Davis, and Cramer Fish Sciences found that young Californian Chinook salmon face a deadly double threat from extreme weather and the destruction of historical wetland habitats they rely on.
Above: Geographic distribution of the revenue for trawl-caught groundfish in 2024 and 2016–2024 along a portion of the U.S. West Coast. This sample image from the Pacific Fishing Effort Mapping tool illustrates how data is visualized. Credit: NOAA Fisheries A new system combines decades of fisheries data and statistics to visualize West Coast fisheries and...
Above photo: SpeciesNet’s AI prediction can be seen on an image of a lynx. Credit: Mammal Spatial Ecology and Conservation Lab Artificial intelligence can dramatically speed up the painstaking work of tracking wildlife with remote cameras, cutting analysis time from months or even a year to just days while producing nearly the same scientific conclusions...
A model developed by Washington State University researchers can predict how transmission towers might fail and collapse in extreme wind events. The work, reported in the journal, Engineering Structures, could someday help power companies identify the most vulnerable transmission towers in extreme wind events and determine which should have retrofits to reduce the power outage...
Above photo: TMMC-1-91, also known as ‘Ladybug’, swimming in central San Francisco Bay – pictured with the skyline of the city. This individual later died. Photographer: Josephine Slaathaug © The Marine Mammal Center. Gray whales migrate from Arctic waters full of food to the lagoons of Baja Mexico — but as the climate crisis gathers...
Summer weather is arriving earlier, lasting longer and packing more heat than it used to—and it’s happening faster than scientists had previously measured.
New evidence suggests that a disease-causing tapeworm that has been spreading across the United States and Canada has arrived in the Pacific Northwest. The tapeworm, called Echinococcus multilocularis, lives as a parasite in coyotes, foxes and other canid species and can cause severe disease if passed to domestic dogs or humans.
Alaska’s glaciers respond to climate change by melting for three additional weeks with every 1 degree Celsius increase in the average summer temperature, data from satellite-mounted radars show.
This winter was one of the warmest on record across the West; as a result, many snowy, alpine areas have seen bouts of winter rainfall where there would ordinarily only be snow. These unusual weather patterns have contributed to an abysmal ski season, but they can also set the stage for dangerous avalanches.
A new study from the University of British Columbia has found that artificial turf fields across Metro Vancouver leach 6PPD-quinone, a chemical known to kill coho salmon, into municipal stormwater systems—and the contamination persists long after the fields are installed.
Common ravens are often spotted soaring above wolves in Yellowstone National Park. Researchers assumed that the scavengers were following the wolves to get their scraps, but new research reveals a twist: Ravens don’t follow wolves, they remember common hunting grounds and regularly check back for fresh meat.
A massive marine heatwave has dominated waters off the West Coast since last summer. This marks only the third time on record that such a large section of the coastal ocean has remained so warm for so long—particularly into winter months—without it being an El Niño, NOAA scientists report.
Researchers spent five years developing an AI-based model to protect freshwater fish worldwide from extinction, with a particular focus on identifying threats to fish before they become endangered.
As climate change nudges weather in the eastern Cascades in extreme and volatile directions, forest managers in the region have a lot to juggle.
A new analysis shows that the Pacific Northwest’s mature and old-growth forests are most at risk of severe wildfire in areas that historically burned frequently at lower severity.
Canada is failing in a decades-old pledge to monitor the health of Pacific salmon, according to new research from Simon Fraser University.
An Earthwise Knowledge Initiative Publication
