Alaskan Coastline Eroding Into the Sea as Glaciers Melt

As Global Warming continues to melt Alaskan ice, melt-water streams over the land and warms even more permafrost, carrying Alaska’s coastline out to sea.

There is a trickle effect (no pun intended) to the actions that we  perform and the impact those actions have on the environment. I am sure that the Global Warming – melting ice – coastline erosion – domino effect continues further and further on down the line, but knowing this information is only part of the equation.

Part of Alaska’s coast is drifting into the sea at twice the rate it has in the past, reshaping the Arctic shoreline, a new study says. The trend could seriously threaten the area’s caribou and other wildlife, as well as local landmarks that document human settlements.

Some stretches of the state’s northern shore along the Beaufort Sea receded by more than (25 meters) in summer 2007 alone, when Arctic sea ice was at a record low.

In the past, spurts of erosion had often been linked to storms, but there were no major storms in 2007. That suggests “a shift in the forces driving erosion,” said lead author Benjamin Jones, a research geographer at the U.S. Geological Survey.

The study of the 40-mile (64-kilometer) stretch of coast was published this week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

What does this mean as a real life scenario?

• The town of Esook, a hundred-year-old trading post, have been buried underwater.

• Oil wells are being threatened too. (Though this is fine with me)  At least one has already been lost since 2002, and another will soon be gone.

Larry Hinzman, director of the International Arctic Research Center in Fairbanks, Alaska, said the permafrost in this region has a considerable amount of ice, which is one reason it is melting so fast.

The problem that we have as a people is that we tend to care more about “one aspect” of our lives more than others. Some of you may be involved in saving Greyhounds. Some of you may collect stamps. Some of you are involved in outdoor education or saving animals.

But what these effects of man made global warming show us, is that the things we do have a far more reaching impact than we think. They have already impacted millions of us personally. How long till they impact you?

Source: National Geographic

photo credit: skagman

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2. Permafrost, Methane, and Climate Change [VID]
3. Al Gore on CNN – Economic and Global Warming Crisis Intertwined (Video)