In Alaska, Melting Glaciers Cause Land to Rise

Around Juneau, Alaska, climate change is causing an unexpected problem, the New York Times reports: As glaciers melt, the land is rising away from the sea. The change—10 feet in about 200 years—is enough to dry up local streams and wetland habitats, and is the result of land springing back after the weight of glaciers is removed.

“What is the impact when (salmon) return and the streams are dry?” asked Juneau’s mayor. Another problem: Water from the melting glaciers carries sediment to the coast, where some waterways are “basically silted in,” a geologist said. The Earth’s plates continue to move, he adds, and “when you combine tectonics and glacial readjustment, you get rates that are incomprehensible.” (More climate change stories.)