Climate change the cause of landslide at Alaska’s Denali park

The world's warming climate has triggered the collapse of a mountain slope in a popular Alaskan national park, as well as the thawing of environmentally critical permafrost. Picture: SUPPLIEDFor 50 years, visitors to Alaska's Denali National Park were ferried by shuttle buses along a 92-mile road to take in sweeping vistas, watch rambling bears, moose and caribou and gaze at the snowy flanks of North America's tallest peak.

The landslide there used to be gradual and measured in inches per year, but it has accelerated dramatically, hastened by thawing of the underlying layers of once-perpetually frozen soil known as permafrost. “The Pretty Rocks landslide is a really dramatic and highly visible example of the connection between climate change and the new geologic equilibrium we're trying to maintain the road with,” Merrell said.

Under a scenario some scientists have called a carbon bomb, thawing permafrost could release huge amounts of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases, accelerating global warming in a vast feedback loop. Construction of the bridge and associated road improvements, expected to cost $91m, will be a major disruption for one of Alaska's most-visited tourism destinations. The national park draws about 600,000 visitors in a typical year.Denali has been the fastest-warming US national park over the past half-century, according to the, and that heating trend has accelerated.

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