Alaskan Village Threatened By Climate Change Votes to Relocate Due to Erosion, Rising Sea Levels

Ada Carr
Published: August 19,2016

As erosion continues to eat away at the small Alaskan village of Shishmaref, unofficial results from a ballot suggest that a majority of those in the community has voted to relocate the village. 

Officials held a special election Tuesday asking residents if they should develop a new community at a nearby mainland location or stay put with added environmental protections, according to the Associated Press. Unofficial ballot returns show 89 voted for the move, while 78 opted to stay. A city clerk said the count does not include absentee or special needs ballots.

Located on a narrow island north of the Bering Strait, Shishmaref has been identified as one of Alaska’s most eroded communities. So far, at least two homes have been toppled as the shoreline is eaten away and comes even closer to other homes. 

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The erosion in the village and other coastal communities is a steadily growing issue blamed on climate change that has affected the region’s storm patterns. Since the 90s, the community has had to move bout 19 houses from one side of Shishmaref to the other to protect them, ABC News reports.

"You know it really breaks my heart, it hurts my heart, knowing that my one and only home will have to soon relocate, and having all the memories that I have on Shishmaref be gone when Shishmaref is gone, and when the island is underwater," fourth generation resident Esau Sinnok told ABC News.

Though results indicate residents would prefer to move, government funding has been increasingly difficult to obtain. There likely isn't enough money for the impoverished community of just 600 people to follow through on the decision, according to the Associated Press.

Either option comes with a hefty price tag. A 2004 Army Corps of Engineers study says relocating the village to the mainland would be $180 million.

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According to AP, staying in Shishmaref with extra protections would cost $110 million.

The village has been exploring relocation since the mid-1970s. It also voted to move in 2002, but money was also an issue then.

Tuesday's vote likely amounts to an advisory opinion. A feasibility study released in February looked at all potential options. It suggested the vote would allow agencies that may provide funding to move forward with further research on how best to save the community.

"Doing nothing is not an option," said Shishmaref Mayor Howard Weyiouanna Sr. 

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