Editing Shishmaref, Alaska (section)

=== Global warming ===
The effect of [[global climate change]] upon Shishmaref is sometimes seen as the most dramatic in the world.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3940399.stm | work=BBC News | title=Sea engulfing Alaskan village | date=July 30, 2004 | access-date=March 27, 2010}}</ref> Rising temperatures have resulted in a reduction in the [[sea ice]] which serves to buffer Shishmaref from [[storm surge]]s. At the same time, the [[permafrost]] that the village is built on has also begun to melt, making the shore even more vulnerable to [[erosion]]. In recent years the shore has been receding at an average rate of up to 10 feet (3.3 m) per year.<ref>''Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change'', 2006, {{ISBN|978-1-59691-130-7}}</ref> Although a series of barricades has been put up to protect the village, the shore has continued to erode at an alarming rate.  The Army Corps of Engineers has built a series of walls but none have been completely effective against waves.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Tip of the iceberg : my 3,000-mile journey around wild Alaska, the last great American frontier|author=Adams, Mark|isbn=9781101985113|location=New York, New York|oclc=1021063881|date = May 15, 2018}}</ref>  The town's homes, water system and infrastructure are being undermined.<ref>Jordan, J.W., and O.K. Mason, 1999. A 5000 year record of intertidal peat stratigraphy and sea- level change from northwest Alaska. Quaternary International 60:37-47</ref><ref>Jordan, J.W., 1989. Rhythmic berm ridge deposition on the coastal barriersof northern Seward Peninsula, Alaska. In: Coastal Sediment Mobility;Proceedings of the Eighth Symposium on Coastal Sedimentology, W.F. Tanner ed., Department of Geology, Florida State University, Tallahassee. pp.137-150.</ref><ref>Jordan, J.W., 1987. Erosion characteristics and retreat rates along the north coast of Seward Peninsula. Chapter 7, In: Bering Land Bridge National Preserve: an Archeological Survey, J. Schaaf ed., National Park Service, Alaska Region, Anchorage.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Human and Economic Indicators - Village of Shishmaref, North Alaska |url=https://www.arctic.noaa.gov/detect/human-shishmaref.shtml |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041115071930/https://www.arctic.noaa.gov/detect/human-shishmaref.shtml |archive-date=November 15, 2004 |access-date=June 19, 2023 |website=NOAA}}</ref> Currently,{{when|date=January 2024}} Shishmaref has obtained funds to construct seawalls that protect some of the shoreline.

The village had plans to relocate several miles to the south, on the mainland to the Tin Creek site. However, Tin Creek proved unsuitable for long term settlement due to melting permafrost in the area. The Shishmaref Erosion and Relocation Coalition, made up of the city, the IRA Council and other organizations, is seeking{{when|date=January 2024}} federal, state and private funding for a move elsewhere.  The cost of moving Shishmaref is estimated at $180 million, nearly $320,000 per resident. The village was told by the Obama administration that no federal money was available, therefore tensions arose in 2013 when John Kerry announced Vietnam would receive $17 million to deal with climate change.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

Erosion rates along the island front exceed (and are not comparable with) those along adjacent sectors. Erosion is occurring along the entire island chain, but it is exacerbated at Sarichef Island in part because of the hydrographic impacts of hard armoring of a sandy shoreface and permafrost degradation that is accelerated by infrastructure.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} Residents are experiencing the effects of coastal retreat on residential and commercial properties.

Residents voted on town relocation several times, as early as 1975 and then in 2002 which approved it.<ref name=":0" /> On August 16, 2016, the village voted to move the town to the mainland.<ref>{{cite news |last=Thorbecke |first=Catherine |date=August 18, 2016 |title=Leaving Their Ancestral Home: Alaska Village Votes to Move Due to Climate Change |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/leaving-ancestral-home-alaska-village-votes-move-due/story?id=41482755 |newspaper=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |access-date=August 18, 2016}}</ref> The town's residents prefer to think of the move to the mainland as an "expansion" rather than a "relocation", but although a site on the mainland called '''West Tin-Creek Hills''' was selected in 2016, there’s still a lot of planning and research to be done before that can be determined viable.<ref name=knom>{{cite web|title=Amid an Erosion Crisis, Shishmaref Takes Small Steps Toward Expansion|author=Emily Hofstaedter|language=en|website=KNOM Radio Mission|date=June 28, 2019|format=Audio with Text|url=https://www.knom.org/wp/blog/2019/06/28/amid-an-erosion-crisis-shishmaref-takes-small-steps-toward-expansion/}}</ref>