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SHRINKING CRYOSPHERE

Arctic coasts predicted to erode

Nature Climate Change volume 12, pages 224–225 (2022)Cite this article

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Increasing Arctic temperatures accelerate coastal erosion, threatening coastal communities and infrastructure, and adding carbon to the atmosphere. Research now predicts that Arctic coastal erosion on the pan-Arctic scale will exceed its historical range of variability and increase two to three times by the end of the century.

Arctic coasts make up a third of all coasts1, primarily skirting Alaska, Canada and Siberia. Most of the Arctic coastline is part of the permafrost zone (defined as ground that remains frozen for two consecutive years), and stores almost twice as much carbon in frozen form than is stored in the atmosphere2. Warming Arctic temperatures cause widespread thawing of permafrost and large amounts of organic material are projected to become vulnerable to decomposition, which would release carbon dioxide and methane to the atmosphere, causing more warming. Arctic coasts are the nexus between the ocean and the terrestrial biosphere. Reductions in sea-ice extent, changes in sea level, increased storminess and wave height all contribute to coastal erosion, which has increased for multiple decades now3,4. Writing in Nature Climate Change, David Nielsen and colleagues5 report projected coastal erosion rates for the twenty-first century using a wide range of emission scenarios6.

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Fig. 1: Eroding permafrost coast along Barter Island, Alaska, USA.

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  1. Center for Ecosystem Science and Society, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

    Christina Schädel

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  1. Christina Schädel
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Correspondence to Christina Schädel.

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The author declares no competing interests.

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Schädel, C. Arctic coasts predicted to erode. Nat. Clim. Chang. 12, 224–225 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01286-9

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