Alaska Coasts are Melting
According to a new study published this week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, part of Alaska’s coastline is falling into the sea at twice its past rate and reshaping the Arctic shoreline. The trend could threaten the area’s caribou, other wildlife, and local landmarks. Some stretches of the state’s northern shore along the Beaufort Sea receded by more than 80 feet in summer 2007 alone, when Arctic sea ice was at a record low.
In the past, erosion was mostly caused by storms that regularly pummel Alaska, but there were no major storms in 2007. That indicates there has been “a shift in the forces driving erosion,” said study author Benjamin Jones, a research geographer at the U.S. Geological Survey.
The most significant force causing erosion is global warming. As the air and sea temperatures increase, the ice in the region’s permafrost melts, creating steams of meltwater that carry sediment into the sea. From 2002 to 2007, melting ice caused the coast to disappear at a rate of about 45 feet a year, a 50% increase since 1979 and a 225% increase since 1955.