Trump Cuts and Climate Change Compound Worry in Alaska After Typhoon Disaster

"The village of Kipnuk, largely submerged by the remnants of Typhoon Halong, is seen from the air on October 12, 2025. Alaska National Guard After the latest catastrophic storm hit Western Alaska, displacing more than 1,500 people, killing at least one and leaving villages in ruins, residents face an existential crisis. Will the wide delta that fans out between the lower Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers and has supported one of the circumpolar north's largest Indigenous populations for millennia continue to be a place where Alaska's Yupik people can live?"

"Intertwined climate change forces make long-term prospects grim in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, according to a wide-ranging scientific study he led. The study was published in mid-August, just two months before the remnants of Typhoon Halong hit on Oct. 12. Coastal erosion, permafrost thaw, sea-level rise, intrusion of saltwater into freshwater systems - are combining with storm surges to dramatically transform the coastal area, damaging communities and the food resources that have sustained Yup'ik people for centuries, the study said."

"Of the 18 villages on the outer coastal area of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, at least 10 will likely have to be relocated, said Jorgenson, who is affiliated with the University of Alaska Fairbanks while operating an independent science consulting company. The at-risk villages sit atop permafrost that, when intact, is a platform a meter or two above the region's salt marshes, Jorgenson said."

Kipnuk was largely submerged by remnants of Typhoon Halong on Oct. 12, 2025. The storm displaced more than 1,500 people, killed at least one and left multiple villages in ruins. The future habitability of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, long home to Alaska's Yup'ik populations, is in jeopardy. Intertwined climate forces are degrading the coastal landscape and subsistence food systems. Coastal erosion, permafrost thaw, sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion, combined with stronger storm surges, are transforming shorelines and damaging community infrastructure and resources. At least 10 of 18 outer coastal villages will likely require relocation.

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