Shishmaref residents decided to leave island rather than add more defenses against coastal erosion but community may not be able to afford $180m move

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

The residents of a small coastal Alaskan village have voted to move to the mainland because of rising sea levels, but they may not have the funds to do it.

The 600-person village of Shishmaref, located on an island just north of the Bering Strait, has for decades been ravaged by erosion tied to climate change, leading residents to seek a more sustainable place to live.

But the community is racked by poverty, making it difficult to relocate, which is estimated to cost $180m.

Officials held a special election on Tuesday so residents could vote on whether to relocate or to stay and add environmental defenses. The vote was relatively close, with 89 for relocating and 78 to remain.

But both choices came with a steep price tag. The most recent estimate on relocating, from a 2004 Army Corps of Engineers study, was $180m. Officials said it would cost $110m for the environmental protections needed for the community to safely stay in one of Alaska’s most eroded coastal areas.

Mayor Harold Weyiouanna Sr told local news channel KTUU that doing nothing was not an option because while land crumbles into the sea, the community continues to grow.

“They did put a seawall or rock walls up, and it seems to be holding, but we need more protection to protect the whole island,” Weyiouanna said.

The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) said Shishmaref is one of 31 villages that face “imminent threats” from flooding and coastal erosion.

Shishmaref residents have been considering relocation since the mid-1970s, when it first introduced shoreline defense structures. The community also voted to leave in 2002, but was unable to because of cost.

In February 2015, Sally Jewell, the secretary of the interior, announced $8m in funding for “projects that promote tribal climate change adaption” in Alaska. But that is far short of the money needed in Shishmaref and, likely, the most vulnerable communities impacted by climate change.

In February, a community of about 60 people in Louisiana was named as the first official climate refugees in the US. The federal government granted $48m for the relocation of people in Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana, which is disappearing into the Gulf of Mexico.

By 2050, 50 million to 200 million people are expected to be displaced by climate change, according to the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security and the International Organization for Migration.

Shishmaref residents say they have felt the pressure to move for decades.

“Within the next two decades, the whole island will erode away completely,” wrote Esau Sinnok, a Shishmaref native and Arctic Youth Ambassador, in an essay for the Department of the Interior in 2015.

“To put this in perspective: I was born in 1997, and since then, Shishmaref has lost about 100 feet,” he continued. “In the past 15 years, we had to move 13 houses – including my dear grandma Edna’s house – from one end of the island to the other because of this loss of land.”