Coastal Resilience in Alaska

The document details the impacts of climate change on Alaskan coastal communities, highlighting the synergy between thawing permafrost and decreasing sea ice that accelerates shoreline erosion. It emphasizes the high financial cost of community relocation and the critical need for integrating indigenous knowledge with western science. The briefing also discusses the role of regional partnerships, such as the Aleutian Bering Sea Initiative, in managing marine mammals and improving domain awareness, while identifying significant barriers to resilience, including inadequate elevation data, limited telecommunications, and a lack of central coordinating authority for adaptation.

• The interaction between thawing permafrost and decreasing sea ice increases coastal vulnerability; as permafrost thaws, ground stability decreases, and the longer ice-free seasons expose the coast to more frequent and severe storm-driven erosion and flooding.
• Climate change is causing a significant increase in the ice-free season for the Bering, Chukchi, and Beaufort seas, with projections suggesting an increase of roughly one week per decade south of latitude 60 North and two weeks per decade north of latitude 65 North.
• Relocating Alaskan coastal communities is extremely expensive, with costs for individual moves estimated in the tens to hundreds of millions of dollars.
• Infrastructure impacts in Alaska between 2015 and 2099 are estimated at $4.3 billion for a lower emissions scenario and $5.5 billion for a higher emissions scenario (in 2015 dollars), though adaptation could reduce these costs by approximately 40%.
• Extreme precipitation events are projected to increase in frequency; a historical one-in-20-year event could become a one-in-five-year event in southeast Alaska and a one-in-three-year event in Western Alaska and the YK Delta under high emissions scenarios.
• A critical data gap exists in coastal mapping; approximately 60% of Alaska is not covered by the National Wetlands Inventory, particularly in the areas experiencing the most rapid change.
• Indigenous knowledge is essential for resilience but is often undervalued or excluded by government agencies during adaptation planning; there is a call for the 'co-production' of science that combines western data with traditional observations.
• The Aleutian Bering Sea Initiative successfully used proximity analysis of shipping lanes to establish five voluntary 'areas to be avoided' to protect Steller sea lion haul-outs from oil spills and disturbances.
• The Indigenous Sentinel's Network, launched in 2002, allows communities to define their own science questions and own the resulting data, using a smartphone app to document traditional food harvests and wildlife die-offs.
• Significant systemic barriers to coastal resilience include convoluted federal financial assistance processes, poor telecommunications in tribal communities, and the absence of a single central authority to coordinate adaptation efforts statewide.

APA

Environmental and Energy Study Institute (2020). Coastal Resilience in Alaska. https://www.eesi.org/files/transcript_042120.pdf

Chicago

Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Coastal Resilience in Alaska. 2020. https://www.eesi.org/files/transcript_042120.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |title=Coastal Resilience in Alaska |date=April 2020 |url=https://www.eesi.org/files/transcript_042120.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{environmentalandenergystudyinstitute2020coastal, author = {{Environmental and Energy Study Institute}}, title = {{Coastal Resilience in Alaska}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2020}, month = apr, url = {https://www.eesi.org/files/transcript_042120.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }