The glacier lake outburst that sent an unprecedented amount of water rushing towards Alaska’s capital, destroying homes, would not have happened without climate change, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
An outburst flood from a meltwater lake on the Mendenhall Glacier, located about 12 miles north of Juneau, Alaska, sent record amounts of water into Mendenhall Lake and down the Mendenhall River between August 4 and August 6, according to NOAA.
Significant flooding was reported in areas along the river that have not seen flooding from these types of events in the past, the National Weather Service office in Juneau said. Floodwaters swept trees and buildings into the river as significant erosion occurred.
According to Rick Thoman, Alaska Climate Specialist at the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy, decades worth o erosion happened in one weekend, throwing life completely out of gear.
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