Kwigillingok, a community on the Bering Sea coast of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, is used to some flooding during high tides. But in recent years, that flooding has grown more severe, reaching a new threshold last week.
In Chefornak, a family was forced to evacuate their home because a sinkhole caused by thawing permafrost formed underneath it. That family had to move into a building intended to be a quarantine facility.
This is not the first time this village has faced the threat of erosion and flooding, but relocating won’t be as easy as it was last time.
About a year ago, Tununak opened a $19 million, state-of-the-art airport, but shifting permafrost is buckling the runway.
Tununak Airport near Bethel is facing a catastrophic problem, as airlines are refusing to land there due to the village's shifting permafrost.
Climate change is thawing the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta’s permafrost, and it’s doing more than cracking foundations, sinking roads and accelerating erosion.
Possibly an effect of thawing permafrost.
River erosion damaging pedestrian walkway
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