Collapsing Coastlines

How Arctic shores are pulled a-sea 

Gray waves surged over miles and miles of open water, breaking against the bluffs underlying Kaktovik. The tiny village sits precariously on the Beaufort Sea, a frigid body of water bordering Alaska’s northeastern Arctic coast. As the choppy waters inundated vulnerable stretches of shoreline, the surf carved deep chasms into the tall bluffs.

GOING… Storms can ravage coastal permafrost, as shown near the village of Kaktovik, Alaska.