Rockfall buries access road but stops just in front of hamlet, which had been evacuated in anticipation.

This post is an update on the river erosion situation in Noatak, where a new channel is being cut by the Noatak River.

A previously underestimated risk lurks in the frozen soil of the Arctic. When the ground thaws and becomes unstable in response to climate change, it can lead to the collapse of industrial infrastructure, and in turn to the increased release of pollutants. Moreover, contaminations already present will be able to more easily spread throughout ecosystems. According to new findings, there are at least 13,000 to 20,000 contaminated sites in the Arctic that could pose a serious risk in the future.

The community of Aklavik, N.W.T., persevered when devastating floods led the government to attempt to relocate it. Now it faces another existential crisis as climate change thaws the permafrost, forever changing the community’s landscape and wildlife.

Increase in sediments such as iron could change quality of water sources for local communities such as Kobuk and Kivalina. The impact on animals and plants are unknown and researchers are aware of potential changes in the food web in the future.

Permafrost thaw in Noatak is causing the condition of the grave site to degrade. A trench has formed and crosses are tipping over.

Melting permafrost and severe erosion have plagued the community for decades. The most recent storm brought waves so fierce, the water claimed roughly half of the 80 or so remaining feet of land that stands between the back end of the school and the edge of the Ningliq river.

Two heavy rainstorms caused flooding and landslides in the upper valley last week, damaging infrastructure and leaving two residents temporarily trapped in their vehicle.

A site visit to Newtok on September 30, shows severe erosion from impacts of storm (typhoon Merbok). The images show both severe permafrost melt and river erosion.

Permafrost is ground that stays frozen year round; the permafrost in interior Alaska also has massive wedges of actual ice locked within the frozen ground. When that ice melts, the ground surface collapses and forms a sinkhole that can fill with water. Thus, a thermokarst lake is born. At first glance, Big Trail looks like any lake. But look closer and there's something disturbing the surface: bubbles.

The erosion of the Old Russian Cemetery from the impacts of the storm Merbokis also an unfinished process. The earth is actively moving, falling onto the beach bit by bit and sometimes in large chunks every day, to reach a state of stabilization after the storm.

The heavy rains and high water from storm Murdok today and Monday are contributing to the erosion of the old landfill and river bank.

The aftermath of Typhoon Merbok left fuel tanks floating and home flooded, but locals also saw an opportunity.

In Utqiaġvik, where the coast is eroding at some of the fastest rates in the nation, storms, flooding and thawing permafrost damage houses, roads and cultural sites. Ice forms later each year and storms are becoming longer and more severe.

Drained lake basins make up more than half of the Arctic coastal plain, but the complete drainage of a lake is rarely witnessed by people.

"The event occurred on June 29th, on our native allotment near Kotzebue (Illivak). We left home in the morning and when we came back around 8:00 PM in the evening the whole lake had drained! It looked like it was blown up with dynamite."

On June 21, 2022, when miners working on Eureka Creek in the Klondike gold fields within Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin Traditional Territory made an astonishing discovery.There, covered over by permafrost, they found the near-perfect mummified remains of a baby woolly mammoth.

Community gravel source and old dump site threated by erosion.

The collapse was documented with drone imagery as was a permafrost rebound signature in the river water.

Noatak has lost 19' of river bank since May 19th. Now the road to the community gravel source is failing.