Buzard et al.: Barrier Island Reconfiguration Leads to Relocation

In Barrier Island Reconfiguration Leads to Rapid Erosion and Relocation of a Rural Alaska Community, authors Richard M. Buzard, Christopher V. Maio, Roberta J.T. Glenn (all Geosciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks), Nicole E.M. Kinsman (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), Li H. Erikson (Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center), Benjamin M. Jones (Institute of Northern Engineering, University of Alaska Fairbanks), Scott Anderson (Native Village of Port Heiden), and Jacquelyn R. Overbeck (Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys) provide a unique analysis of modern coastal erosion in a rural Alaskan village.

Against the backdrop of rising sea levels, coastal communities face many threats. Those communities closer to the Earth’s poles, such as towns in Alaska, are at an increased risk from more immediate effects of ice melt and changes in the ocean. The authors of this article conduct a case study of one village in Alaska to assess the impact on and changes in the lives of affected individuals and their community at large.

To conduct their analysis, the authors selected Meshik, a village facing one of the highest levels of coastal erosion in all of Alaska. This village is unique in that the authors had access to a wide variety of geological data and satellite coastal imaging, as well as to a barrier island off the village's coast that had recently eroded.

Tracking coastal lines with satellite imaging and analyzing such data in conjecture with geological surveys and community monitoring, the authors provide a picture of how erosion has affected the community. Specifically, the authors examined how coastal erosion was minimal around the village until the rapid erosion of a barrier island offshore. Once this barrier island was eroded, coastal erosion dramatically increased near the village. Ultimately, the erosion forced the entire village to move several kilometers inward.

The authors posit that various factors contributed to the erosion of this Alaskan coastline, but perhaps none more so than the loss of the barrier island, an occurrence which is likely to increase in frequency across the region due in part to climate change. Without a barrier island to affect tidal levels and break up the waves, the coast of Meshik faced rapid erosion. By devoting an entire article to an analysis of one village, the authors provide insight into the effects directly felt by individuals due to climate change and rising sea levels. This perspective is unique and insightful, showing the local impact of climate change not often seen in macro studies on the topic.