Climate crisis: Alaska is melting and it’s likely to accelerate global heating

A city in western Alaska has lost a huge stretch of riverbank to erosion that may turn it into an island, amid renewed warnings from scientists over the havoc triggered by the accelerating melting of the state’s ice and permafrost.

Rick Knecht, an archeologist, shows a site threatened
by climate breakdown erosion caused by melting
permafrost on the Yukon Delta in Alaska.

Residents of the small city of Akiak were alarmed to find the Kuskokwim River suddenly much closer to housing after approximately 75ft to 100ft of riverbank disappeared over the course of just a few hours.

The erosion, which occurred late last month, stripped away the riverbank for the entire length of Akiak, which has a population of around 340.

Read the story from The Guardian by Oliver Milman - “Climate crisis: Alaska is melting and it’s likely to accelerate global heating.”