Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Watch the glacier outburst that sent a surge of water into Juneau,
causing ‘unprecedented’ flooding
Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, Juneau is
the capital city of the US state of Alaska. Between May and September, this
small city with a population of just around 32,000 is overwhelmed by more than
20,000 visitors mainly from cruise ships. These day visitors flood the streets
and disappear quickly, just like sunrise and sunset. Earlier this month, the
city flooded when a rush of water was unleashed from an ailing glacier, called
glacial lake outburst flooding, and damaged over 100 homes. The outbursts have
become an annual occurrence since 2011, but this year’s outburst was unprecedented.
This is part of the evidence that the Arctic, including Alaska, has been
warming twice faster than the rest of the planet due to climate change. If
flooding of this scale becomes an annual event while sea levels are rising,
what will the residents of Juneau do?
Read the article about another clear and present danger of global
warming.
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