{"id":4498,"date":"2021-01-02T11:00:04","date_gmt":"2021-01-02T11:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=145482"},"modified":"2021-01-02T11:00:04","modified_gmt":"2021-01-02T11:00:04","slug":"a-wetter-and-warmer-alaska-means-dangerously-slippery-slopes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/01\/02\/a-wetter-and-warmer-alaska-means-dangerously-slippery-slopes\/","title":{"rendered":"A wetter and warmer Alaska means dangerously slippery slopes"},"content":{"rendered":"
This<\/em> story<\/em><\/a> was originally published by High Country News<\/a><\/em> and is reproduced here as part of the<\/em> Climate Desk<\/em><\/a> collaboration.<\/em><\/p>\n An hour before sundown on December 2, Lilly Ford and her family heard a \u201cstrange, low rumble\u201d outside of her home in Haines, Alaska. It lasted about a minute as a 600-foot-wide slurry of timber, mud, soil, and debris cascaded down a nearby mountain, through a residential area, and into the ocean. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe the mountain had swept people and houses away just like that \u2014 ripped the ground out from under them,\u201d Ford said. \u201cIt\u2019s just not something you\u2019d ever anticipate.\u201d<\/p>\n Haines, population 2,500, saw more than 8 inches of rainfall during the first two days of December \u2014 a total that topped the monthly average by 2 inches. Hundreds of homes on this mountainous peninsula between two inlets and the Canadian border were damaged by floods and debris flows. About 50 households were ordered to evacuate because of landslide danger, and still others were displaced by flooding. A kindergarten teacher and a local businessman are presumed dead.<\/p>\n Landslides are a growing threat as warm, heavy rain storms \u2014 intensified by climate change \u2014 flush rock, soil, trees, and debris down slopes onto the land below. In response to deadly landslides across the West, scientists and communities are calling for more resources to better prepare and understand the looming threat. On December 16, Congress heeded that call by passing legislation that will identify the most vulnerable communities and devise emergency plans and warning systems to protect them.<\/p>\n Southeast Alaska is one of the wettest places in the United States, with some areas drenched by more than 200 inches of rain a year. Lush old-growth yellow and red cedar, Sitka spruce and Western hemlock crowd the region\u2019s Tongass National Forest, the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world. It\u2019s also snowy: thrill-seeking skiers and snowboarders from around the world come to Haines for its legendary deep powder. Now, local weather patterns are being reshaped by climate change.<\/p>\n Rising temperatures and increased precipitation make heavy rainstorms \u2014 like the one that triggered the landslides in Haines and across Southeast Alaska \u2014 more likely, said Rick Lader, a scientist at the Alaska Climate Adaptation Science Center. In the last 50 years, temperatures in the region have risen 2 to 3 degrees Fahrenheit, and precipitation has increased by up to 15 percent. Lader said observational records reveal that precipitation intensity \u2014 the frequency of days with half an inch of rain or more \u2014 is also \u201csignificantly increasing.\u201d<\/p>\n Storms are intensifying more rapidly as the rising temperatures pump extra water vapor into the atmosphere, said Jennifer Francis, a climate scientist with the Woodwell Climate Research Center. Just off the West Coast, wind patterns and the jet stream steer warm moist air toward Alaska, fueling warm, wet storms in the North, and leaving Western states in the Lower 48 high and dry, Francis said. \u201cWe\u2019re probably going to see a lot more of these really bizarre events.\u201d<\/p>\n Warming temperatures and increased precipitation also thaw permafrost in alpine areas and heighten landslide risks. Once-frozen walls of rock, soil, and ice are increasingly prone to slumping down mountains \u2014 especially during heavy rains\u2014 said De Anne Stevens, engineering geology section chief at the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.<\/p>\n
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