Scientists are warning that there could be more climate-induced tsunamis like the one that hurtled through an Alaskan fjord last year. Without better warning systems, the next one could be deadly.
That’s the takeaway from a paper published Wednesday in the journal Science, providing one of the first detailed analyses of how the tsunami unfolded in Tracy Arm fjord last August, near Juneau. Climate change likely played a key role, the researchers said.
Tracy Arm, a narrow inlet with steep walls, sits at the edge of two glaciers. Both are fed by the nearby Stikine ice field, which has been rapidly thinning for decades, causing the glaciers to shrink and retreat. Higher global temperatures, driven by greenhouse gases, are a major factor in the melting.
Retreating glaciers often expose rocky, unstable landscapes, raising the risk of landslides. That’s what happened at Tracy Arm, when a river of earth broke free and plunged into the fjord, knocking giant icebergs loose as it barreled downhill.
