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Melting Alaska glacier could soon unleash ‘mega-tsunami’ - New York Post

Melting Alaska glacier could soon unleash ‘mega-tsunami’ - New York Post

Melting Alaska glacier could soon unleash ‘mega-tsunami’ - New York Post
Oct 19, 2020 1 min, 27 secs

An unprecedented ‘mega-tsunami’ could be caused by a melting Alaska glacier, scientists have warned.

The concerned experts claim the catastrophic event could even happen within the next 12 months if melting ice triggers a landslide of unstable rocks.

The potential disaster was warned about in May by scientists who wrote an open letter to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (ADNR).

This region has seen glacier retreat, which has led to instability on the slopes of a mountain in Barry Arm above the Barry Glacier.

The scientists wrote: “We, a group of scientists with expertise in climate change, landslides, and tsunami hazards, have identified an unstable mountain slope above the toe of Barry Glacier in Barry Arm, 60 miles east of Anchorage, that has the potential to fail and generate a tsunami.

“We believe that it is possible that this landslide-generated tsunami will happen within the next year, and likely within 20 years.”.

It could mean a slow moving landslide is already taking place but if a large part of the mountain slope gave way it could have dire consequences.

“The resulting tsunami reached elevations of 633 feet near the landslide, and 35 feet 15 miles away.

“At Karrat Fiord, west Greenland, a landslide in June 2017 similarly produced a tsunami that killed four people and destroyed a large portion of the town of Nuugaatsiaq, 20 miles away.

“The unstable slope in Barry Arm is much bigger than either of these examples, and thus has the potential to produce a larger tsunami that could have impacts throughout Prince William Sound.”

Ongoing monitoring will continue so that scientists can spot warning signs of a landslide and subsequent tsunami before it happens

These scientists have predicted that the tsunami could cause issues over 10 miles away so a pre-warning could save lives

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