Coastal erosion at Kivalina

 

To observe climate change even better Tseard and Jan will go with one or two locals to Kivalina, a traditional Inupiaq Eskimo village at the tip of an 8-mile barrier reef approximately 80 miles north of the regional hub Kotzebue. The place, inhabited for more than 4.000 years, has long been a stopping-off point for seasonal travellers between coastal areas and the Kotzebue Sound communities. Most of the 380 people over here live from subsistence hunting, fishing and whaling (it's the only place in the Northwest Arctic where Inupiaq hunt on bowhead).

Why Kivalina, one might ask? Well, it's very simple: this village, not much bigger than the author's hometown, will have to be relocated 7,5 miles inland. Rising temperatures are causing a retreat of sea-ice and the thawing of permafrost along its coasts. This allows higher storms surges to reach the shore while thawing, though not so severe as in Shishmaref, makes Kivalina more vulnerable to wind-driven ice damage and erosion, undermining the village's homes and infrastructure. The costs of this relocation - for which a new site has been designed - will be a staggering 102 million dollars.

And there's more: just south of Kivalina lies Cape Krusenstern, a treeless coastal plain where detailed evidence along its changing shoreline haven shown an estimated 9,000 years of prehistoric human use. In summer, wildflowers color the beach ridges and nearby hills. Large numbers of migratory birds from all over the world visit Cape Krusenstern to nest. In fall, these birds use the lagoons as feeding and staging areas. Shifting sea ice, ocean currents, and waves continue to form spits and lagoons over here. A place of stunning beauty, a place of climate change. And a place at the edge of Red Dog Mine. All important reasons why it's worth visiting.