What's with the white stuff? Why the N.W.T. has so much tree fluff this summer

Natalie Pressman · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 09, 2025 10:16 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Floating fluff? Summer snow? Cotton balls? If you've been noticing much of that achromatic worldly floating astir the N.W.T. this summer, you're not alone. 

"One happening I noticed is simply a buildup of that worldly successful my yard," Yellowknifer Justin Grandjambe said. "When it's windy it benignant of gathers successful corners and worldly ... astir looks similar a small spot of snow."

Turns out, that fluff is from trees dispelling their seeds.

It's a accent effect from the poplars, aspen and willows reacting to the adust conditions from the past fewer years, according to the N.W.T.'s section of Environment and Climate Change (ECC). Within each fluff shot is simply a clump of tiny seeds. 

The department's experts couldn't accidental however overmuch much "fluff" determination is this twelvemonth compared to different years. That's thing that mightiness besides vary depending connected wherever successful the territory you're looking. 

In an email, ECC spokesperson Thomas Bentham said trees go much stressed arsenic drought conditions persist. Although h2o levels successful the territory person seen immoderate betterment this year, the N.W.T. has experienced drought conditions since 2022 and the cumulative impacts are causing the trees to disperse their seed. 

Sally Aitken, a prof successful the section of forestry at the University of British Columbia, said it's a mode for trees that are nether biology accent to maximize the endurance chances of immoderate of their offspring. The trees that nutrient that "stress crop" are astatine hazard of dying from drought, and are much susceptible to things similar pests and disease. 

The N.W.T. authorities notes an summation in both drought mortality and histrion diminution from bugs and pests successful its astir caller wood wellness study from 2023.

The 2023 study recorded 684 quadrate kilometres of "drought accent and mortality," though surveyors fishy the existent harm to beryllium acold greater since the surveys were done successful June and July and blistery adust upwind continued done the summer. 

That's compared to the 2022 survey, which doesn't notation drought mortality astatine each and notes lone 31 quadrate kilometres impacted by drought and "heat stressed foliage" — though lone the North Slave, South Slave and Dehcho regions are listed.  

Stressed trees could inactive recover

But Aitken says there's anticipation yet. 

With truthful galore seeds floating astir — and travelling acold distances acknowledgment to the fluff — the histrion taxon that dispel their seeds are amended at adapting to clime alteration arsenic they reproduce. 

"What it means is that you volition get a substance of, benignant of, familial backgrounds of seeds arriving successful immoderate spot and past enactment volition favour those that are amended adapted to that environment," she said. 

Aitken said the effect dispersal could besides beryllium a mean effect to lukewarm weather. Trees successful higher latitudes, similar the Northwest Territories, nutrient seeds based connected conditions from the erstwhile twelvemonth and the fluff could beryllium the effect of past summer's heat. 

"That's 1 of our challenges with figuring retired immoderate of the biologic changes we observe successful an idiosyncratic year, whether they're related to utmost events that are the effect of clime alteration oregon whether they're conscionable portion of the mean scope of saltation that we spot twelvemonth to year," she said. 

"Even if it is simply a accent crop, the trees mightiness recover," she said.

Though Bentham acknowledged that ECC has recovered drought mortality successful its wood wellness report, he said the fluff doesn't needfully mean the trees volition die. He said with rain, they are apt to recover.