Some Arctic Coasts Eroding by a Hundred Feet a Year

Since 2000, dozens of scientists have recorded an average annual erosion rate of about 1.6 feet (0.5 meter) of permafrost—or frozen soil—while studying some 62,000 miles (100,000 kilometers) of coast. That's about 25 percent of the total Arctic coastline.

In some very short stretches of shoreline, the scientists recorded erosion of 65 to 100 feet (20 to 30 meters) a year. The most dramatic losses were seen along the Laptev, East Siberian, and Beaufort Seas.