Global Warming Refugees in Alaska

Erosion attributed to global warming will turn Newtok, Alaska, into a ghost town. Then the village will disappear forever.

The U.S. Army has begun work to move the Western Alaskan village of Newtok to a new location. Within a few years it will be abandoned, a ghost town. By 2017, the very ground it stands on will be gone, a victim of accelerated erosion and subsidence (sinking) due to global warming.

This picture of Newtok, with ocean waves crashing against the shoreline, says it all. In times past, the shoreline was frozen much of the year, protecting the village from the waves. Now the frozen periods are shorter, accelerating erosion. At the same time, previously frozen sub-soil is thawing, causing subsidence.

YouTube video of soil erosion near Newtok.

Images of Newtok people, by Brian Adams.

References:

The Anchorage Daily News (July 24, 2009)

The Arctic Sounder (July 21, 2009)

CNN (April 28, 2009)

The Arctic Sounder (November 6, 2008)