BSBS eaTHE EFFECTS of global climate change
are threatening hundreds of sites
that hold clues to Alaska’s past and
its people’s heritage. The permafrost
that once preserved centuries-old
artifacts is thawing—quickly. As
artifacts are exposed, they are sus-
ceptible to decay and rot. Scientists
estimate that the nine million square
miles that make up the Arctic are
warming two to three times faster
than the rest of the planet. In south-
ern regions of Alaska, rising sea levels
and the Bering Sea’s winter storms
are putting coastal heritage sites in
even greater danger. Reductions of
sea ice, which had protected coastal
areas from battering storms, mean
that a single severe weather event
can cause erosion as far as 100 feet
inland. Flooding has not only caused
coastlines to recede; it has also
swept away buried archaeological
sites. Experts predict that sea levels
will continue to rise in the coming
decades, which means that parts
of Alaska’s western coast will suffer
storm surges that could regularly top
10 feet. Thawing permafrost in low-
lying areas is causing the land to sink.HERITAGE
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2100NG MAPS90 MARCH/APRIL 2022
GLOBAL DECLINE
Permafrost, ground that is frozen all
year, is protected by a layer of soil that
typically freezes in the winter. In recent
years in many regions, it has not frozen,
allowing underlying layers of permafrost
to thaw. Models based on current levels
of greenhouse gas emissions project
that by the year 2100 more than 50
percent of near-surface permafrost
worldwide will be gone.