Alaska’s erosion is not a new discovery – natural ice barriers along Alaska’s coastline have been eroding at a rate of 45 feet a year along the North Slope. While concerns have always surrounded the impact upon Alaska’s oil fields and energy industry dominated by Exxon Mobil Corp and BP Plc, some are shifting their focus to the devastation this could cause to migratory shorebirds along the coast.
There is a risk of contamination in local lakes and ponds which has triggered emergency clean up programs of oil wells, but the changes have also caused freshwater bodies to become filled with saltwater, which can greatly alter the ecosystem that these migratory shorebirds rely upon for their basic survival. Plants that these animals rely upon for food have also been compromised, providing the birds with limited sustenance.
While plans to address the risk to oil fields are in the works, beyond this acknowledgement of risk to shorebirds, no action currently seems to be underway in Alaska.
Image Credit: Flickr User Alan Vernon with a Creative Commons License
