Reduced sea-ice protection period increases storm exposure in Kivalina, Alaska
On Arctic coasts, erosion is limited by the presence of nearshore sea ice, which creates a protective barrier from storms. In Kivalina, an Alaskan Inupiaq Inuit community, decreasing seasonal sea-ice extent and a lengthening of the open-water season may be resulting in fall storms that 1) generate h...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
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NRC Research Press (a division of Canadian Science Publishing)
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1807/88555 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/AS-2017-0024 |
| Summary: | On Arctic coasts, erosion is limited by the presence of nearshore sea ice, which creates a protective barrier from storms. In Kivalina, an Alaskan Inupiaq Inuit community, decreasing seasonal sea-ice extent and a lengthening of the open-water season may be resulting in fall storms that 1) generate higher, longer, and more destructive waves, and 2) cause damage later in the year, resulting in increased flooding and erosion. We assess trends in the duration of nearshore sea ice and their relationship with storm occurrence over the period 1979-2015 in Kivalina. Analysis of passive microwave sea ice concentration data indicates that the open-water season has increased by 5.6 Âą 1.2 days/decade over the last 37 years, with moderate evidence that it is extending further into the fall than into the spring. This is correlated with an increased reporting frequency of high-damage storms; 80% of reported storms since 1970 occurred in the last 15 years. Each high-damage storm event occurred during the open-water season for that year. Our findings support Kivalina villagers' assertions that climate change increases storm exposure and associated damages from flooding and erosion. The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author. |
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