Scientists Explore Alaska's Coast

This photograph shows snow and ice melt along the rolling hills and coastal bluffs near Cape Sabine on the western Chukchi Sea coast of Alaska. Coastal erosion along the Arctic coast is chronic, widespread and potentially accelerating, posing threats to infrastructure important for defense and energy purposes, natural shoreline habitats and nearby Native communities. To help address these concerns, the USGS is collecting information on past and present shoreline changes along the conterminous United States and parts of Alaska and Hawaii.