Background Articles

Warming soils beneath Utqiagvik are triggering erosion that threatens homes, infrastructure and cultural resources. The North Slope has seen some of the fastest changes in coastal erosion in the nation.

Golovin was hurt worse than other places in the Norton Sound region by the remnants of typhoon Merbok as it swirled up through Bering Sea last weekend. Repairing the damage is going to take time — and the clock is ticking on winter’s arrival.

The powerful remnants of Typhoon Merbok pounded Alaska’s western coast on Sept. 17, 2022, pushing homes off their foundations and tearing apart protective berms as water flooded communities. Storms aren’t unusual here, but Merbok built up over unusually warm water. Its waves reached 50 feet over the Bering Sea, and its storm surge sent water levels into communities at near record highs along with near hurricane-force winds.

Approximately 31 Alaska Native communities face imminent climate change due to floods and erosion. This can lead to the disappearance of culture and lifestyle changes. The four tribes are in the process of relocating from a rapidly disappearing village.

Indigenous Australians from low-lying islands in the Torres Strait argue that the government, by failing to act on climate change, has violated their fundamental right to maintain their culture.

Warmer seas have led the fishery to move 300 kilometers further northeast - towards the North Pole. At the same time, cruising traffic in the outlying sea areas is increasing.

A new study suggests Greenland ice has hit a new tipping point with unprecedented melting since the early 2000s — and this will have consequences for East Coast cities.

A powerful wave as tall as 55-storey building crashed through a fjord in Alaska in 2015, stripping the mountainsides of trees and dirt. It was triggered by a landslide — and researchers say such tsunamis could pose an increasing risk in places like Western Canada as climate change melts glaciers.

The inhabitants of Lau Lagoon in Solomon Islands have lived in harmony with nature for generations. Now their entire way of life is vanishing beneath the waves.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has disbursed $3.3 million to help Western Alaskans rebuild after ex-typhoon Merbok struck the coast a month ago.

Troopers said that they have suspended the active search for two men missing from Kwigillingok, one of the hardest-hit communities. The men are related to the storm’s lone confirmed fatality, a 67-year-old woman found Monday.