Green | February 22, 2009 | 17 comments

Alaska coast melting-and not just the ice

source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/02/090220-alaska-coast-melting.html

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JanforGore
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 80 feet (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.

One major force now is global warming, according to the research.

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

Out to Sea

Warming air and sea temperatures are melting the ice in the region's permafrost, or perpetually frozen earth. The meltwater then streams over the land and melts more permafrost, carrying sediment into the sea as it goes.

From 2002 to 2007, the melting ice caused the coast to disappear at a rate of about 45 feet (14 meters) a year. That's up from an annual average of 30 feet (9 meters) between 1979 and 2002 and 20 feet (6 meters) between 1955 and 1979.

Remains of the ghost town of Esook, a hundred-year-old trading post, have been buried underwater as a result of the erosion, Jones said.

And near the town of Lonely, Jones took a picture of a whaling boat that a few months later was swallowed by the sea after nearly a century on shore.

The erosion also threatens oil wells. At least one has already been lost since 2002, and another will soon be gone, if the melting continues at these rates.
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17 comments // Alaska coast melting-and not just the ice

  • stopnoise
    • 0
      stopnoise  

    • People need to wake up from their daily illusions. Hollywood and Corp Media TV it is great for entertainment but for people to be distracted to the point of letting your own life and backward to go to hell it is not a good proposition.

    • 3 years ago
  • slobberbox
  • stopnoise
    • 0
      stopnoise  

    • We heard here on previous posts a person that lives in Alaska voice that they make noise with their mufflers or non-existent vehicular mufflers and burn toxic gases like there is no tomorrow.

    • 3 years ago
  • denport
  • CreditFigaro
  • DistantPlanet
  • Bren589
    • 0
      Bren589  

    • Our world is changing and fast. People need to wake up.Its sad to see this happening so fast. I hope our artic animals will survive this

    • 3 years ago
  • trut
    • 0
      trut  

    • Wait till we have a return to normal sunspot activity. We will then see very quickly if climate change is something we can prevent.

    • 3 years ago
  • nursediesel
  • JanforGore
  • nursediesel
    • 0
      nursediesel  

    • Do you think it might migrate down to California?
      She's got to be one of the biggest contribitors to causing problems.
      Hopefully the animals will adapt, there is alot of shore line, AND they adapt with season changes?!
      They certainly can feel the difference and would move toward what was comfortable for them.

    • 3 years ago
  • covelogibbs
    • 0
      covelogibbs  

    • "A Warmer World for Arctic Animals" by Jean-Michel Cousteau highlights some of the effects of a changing climate on the Arctic ecosystem and four of its well-known mammals: the polar bear, the walrus, the Arctic fox and the beluga whale.

      Global warming effects us all and I'm always amazed when someone says "global warming is a hoax," or "why do we need the beluga whale anyway?"

      These animals have intrinsic value, and are part of a food chain and system that impacts us all. We can't loose too many links in this web of life and still maintain equilibrium. It's not just a world without belugas or polar bears, it's extreme weather, fires, drought, etc., on a planetary scale and it affects us all. We are reaping what we've been sowing and it's high time "mankind" lived up to it's name and started working on restoring balance to our tiny planet we call "Mother Earth," or at least stop kicking her while she's down.

    • 3 years ago
  • travism1337
    • 0
      travism1337  

    • Is the world warming? yes. Is it only because of man? possibly, its really hard to blame a temperture increase on humans since there have been similar temp. increses in the distant past, this one is just a little bit higher. Is erosion a normal part of a coast line? yes.

      All in all though there is no harm in trying to clean up our act, its useless to spend time arguing wether the theory of global warming is true or not. Why not try and find other ways to power our houses, in most cases they will be better than fossil fuels once they become mass marketed.

      Now before you all go buy things that say "green" on them, do some research, there may not be any fossil fuels directly in that product, but a lot of times "green" things take more energy to make (energy that is created by fossil fuels) than it does the non green things.

      I think to directly blame an eroding coastline on only global warming might eb a bit rash (but i am not a scientist) erosion happens all the time because of wind, water, and all that other stuff.

      Should the issue be addressed? sure, make plans for people to relocate and such, try and save as much history as we can.

      Sometimes though its hard to stop species from going extinct, it happens all of the time because of natural causes.

      So in reality, yes we should care about the environment and try to stop things liek this from happening, but we also need to be realistic, and realize when we are actually doing good, and when we are just wasting time making ourselves feel better.

    • 3 years ago
  • covelogibbs
    • 0
      covelogibbs  
    • travism1337:

      We need to do a lot more than "make plans for people to relocate" and save as much history as we can."

      Don't get hung up on the nomenclature, because whatever name you give "it," global warming is real and undeniable and coming to a neighborhood near you in one way or another.

      What we need to do is learn from our past, our history, and change our actions today to create a better tomorrow for us all.

    • 3 years ago
  • krush_productions
    • 0
      krush_productions  

    • This is a serious problem that needs to be addressed.
      I feel that writing to governor Palin would be a waste of an email as she would call it an act of god or a terrorist attack. I can't think of anything else to do but attempt to live a simple low impact life, while everyone else keeps trucking on. People will not wake up until like csmount stated above, the bread basket goes dry.

    • 3 years ago
  • csmonut
    • 0
      csmonut  

    • Breaks my heart to see an oil company lose a well. NOT!
      Very sad though to see, right before our eyes, history sinking out of sight.
      And, as villages sink beneath the water and people have to relocate, there is no problem. This is just a natural change that occurs.
      CO2 levels higher than ever in the history of the planet. (proven by geologic evidence)
      Methane levels may have been higher at the beginning of the planet, (course there was no life here at the time) they are on the rise and expected to get much worse.
      But there's no problem!
      I guess if one doesn't care about the planet, there's no problem.
      And how/when will the naysayers be convinced? When they lose their electrical power? When they have to wear a gas mask outside? When they're eating their lawns because the "bread basket" is dried up and no food stuffs are to be had?

    • 3 years ago
  • JanforGore
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