Suspected Climate Change Causing Damage in Alaska

In Alaska, severe storms, flooding and permafrost melting have caused widespread damage.
According to a recent report by the GAO, melting sea and glacier ice has resulted in severe erosion and flooding problems in 86% of the stateÕs native villages, most of which are located along the coast or on rivers and streams
Deep-frozen ground, called permafrost, is beginning to melt, leaving coastal communities much more vulnerable to storms. Damage from these storms was once blocked by year-round sea ice. About 186 native villages have been affected and at least 5 will soon have to be moved away from their coastal locations before they crumble into the sea
Alaska has the longest coastline, at 6,600 miles, of any U.S. state.
The melting of Arctic sea ice not only exposes coastline to erosion , it helps create more powerful storms that hasten the erosion. Cyclones donÕt form over ice, instead they form over water. The ice is just too cold

Source: ÒSenators Warm up to Emissions Curbs,Ó The Wall Street Journal, February 22, 2005

Arctic ice is only half as thick as it was 30 years ago, the Arctic climate assessment report has found. During the same period the distribution of Arctic ice has shrunk by 10 percent

A warmer Arctic could cause sea levels to rise, flooding many coastal regions and perhaps halting the Gulf Stream
The Arctic is warming at twice the global rate
If current rates of change continue, there may be no ice in the Arctic in the north hemisphereÕs summer by 2070.
An unexpectedly rapid warming of the Arctic cold also lead directly to greater climate change elsewhere on the planet
A melting of the permafrost might also lead to a lot of trapped methane being released into the atmosphere, more than offsetting the cooling effects of new forests.

Source: ÒA Canary in the Coal MineÓ The Economist, November 2004

If current trends continue, atmospheric CO₂will reach 500ppmÑnearly double pre-industrial levelsÑaround the middle of the century. It is believed that the last time CO₂concentrations were that high was during the period known as the Eocene, some 50 million years ago. In the Eocene, crocodiles roamed Colorado and sea levels were nearly 300 feet higher than they are today.

Sources: Morgan Stanley Global Wealth Management Environment Compilation, David M. Darst