Climate Change vs. the Alaska Pipeline

Alaska - The Trans-Alaska Pipeline carries oil 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay to the Port of Valdez. The heated oil moves through pipes suspended over Alaska's permafrost to protect the frozen tundra. But as the planet has warmed over recent decades, the tundra has begun to soften, posing a threat to the pipeline - and the fragile Alaskan environment.

A more immediate threat was reported by a Journal correspondent doing field work near Paxton. "We haven't had any rain up here but the rivers are cresting," he reported. "It's August and the rivers are running yellow from glacial till."

Floods caused by melting glaciers have destroyed cabins and vehicles. And, on August 7, the floods almost destroyed the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. The incident was widely reported in the local news media but received scant coverage outside Alaska.

At Pump Station 10 the pipeline, held aloft by eight pair of pillars lodged in a gravel bar, crosses over water near the intersection of Miller and Casner creeks. The unseasonable floods had peeled away the gravel. "The pipe was visibly vibrating," our correspondent reports. Had the pipeline failed, he added, "It would have polluted all the rivers for 50 miles downstream."

Because the flooding also washed out a nearby road,the damage was brought to the attention of the Department of Transportation, which quickly hauled in new gravel to shore up the pipeline.

With climate change occurring along all 800 miles of the pipeline, Alaska may not be so lucky next time.