Nature Writing That Sees Possibility in Climate Change

In October, the residents of Newtok, Alaska, are expected to begin relocating because of climate change. And it’s not just the people who are moving. The town is packing up everything—including its school and airport—and starting over on higher ground nine miles away. Sitting between two rivers on the state’s southwestern coast, Newtok voted to move in 1996, but governmental red tape and the project’s high cost, more than $100 million, have contributed to the delay. As rising tides claim their land and record-breaking heat melts the permafrost beneath their homes, Newtok’s 354 residents hope to complete their move by 2023. “We cannot wait anymore,” the village’s relocation coordinator told Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska in August.

Residents of other Alaskan towns and. He added: “Who knows what we are going to face in the next 10 years.”