Climate change destroyed an Alaska village. Its residents are starting over in a new town

MERTARVIK, Alaska (AP) — Growing up along the banks of the Ninglick River in western Alaska, Ashley Tom would look out of her window after strong storms from the Bering Sea hit her village and notice something unsettling: the riverbank was creeping ever closer.

It was in that home, in the village of Newtok, where Tom's great-grandmother had taught her to sew and crochet on the sofa, skills she used at school when students crafted headdresses, mittens and baby booties using seal or otter fur. It’s also where her grandmother taught her the intricate art of grass basket weaving and how to speak the Yupik language.

Today, erosion and melting permafrost have just about destroyed Newtok, eating about 70 feet (21.34 meters) of land every year. All that’s left are some dilapidated and largely abandoned gray homes scraped bare of paint by salt darting in on the winds of storms.

“Living with my great-grandmother was all I could remember from Newtok, and it was one of the first houses to be demolished,” said Tom.

In the next few weeks, the last 71 residents will load their possessions onto boats to move to Mertarvik, rejoining 230 residents who began moving away in 2019. They will become one of the first Alaska Native villages to complete a large-scale relocation because of climate change.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of a series on how tribes and Indigenous communities are coping with and combating climate change.

Newtok village leaders began searching for a new townsite more than two decades ago, ultimately swapping land with the federal government for a place 9 miles (14.48 kilometers) away on the stable volcanic underpinnings of Nelson Island in the Bering Strait.

But the move has been slow, leaving Newtok a split village. Even after most residents shifted to Mertarvik, the grocery store and school remained in Newtok, leaving some teachers and students separated from their families for the school year.

Calvin Tom, the tribal administrator and Ashley's uncle, called Newtok “not a place to live anymore.” Erosion has tilted power poles precariously, and a single good storm this fall will knock out power for good, he said.

For now, the rush is on to get 18 temporary homes that arrived in Mertarvik on a barge set up before winter sets in.

Alaska is warming two to three times faster than the global average. Some villages dotting the usually frigid North Slope, Alaska’s prodigious oil field, had their warmest temperatures on record in August, prompting some of Ashley Tom’s friends living there to don bikinis and head to Arctic Ocean beaches.

It's the same story across the Arctic, with permafrost degradation damaging roads, railroad tracks, pipes and buildings for 4 million people across the top of the world, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Arctic Institute. In the Russian Arctic, Indigenous people are being moved to cities instead of having their eroding villages relocated and across Scandinavia, reindeer herders are finding the land constantly shifting and new bodies of water appearing, the institute said.

About 85% of Alaska’s land area lies atop permafrost, so named because it's supposed to be permanently frozen ground. It holds a lot of water, and when it thaws or when warmer coastal water hits it, its melting causes further erosion. Another issue with warming: less sea ice to act as natural barriers that protect coastal communities from the dangerous waves of ocean storms.

The Yupik have a word for the catastrophic threats of erosion, flooding and thawing permafrost: “usteq,” which means “surface caves in.” The changes are usually slow — until all of a sudden they aren't, as when a riverbank sloughs off or a huge hole opens up, said Rick Thoman, a climate specialist with the International Arctic Research Center at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

There are 144 Alaska Native communities that face some degree of infrastructure damage from erosion, flooding or permafrost melt, according to a report in January from the the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. Six of them — Kivalina, Koyukuk, Newtok, Shaktoolik, Shishmaref and Unalakleet — were deemed imminently threatened in a Government Accountability Office report more than two decades ago.

Communities have three options based on the severity of their situations: Securing protection to stay where they are; staging a managed retreat, moving back from erosion threats; or a complete relocation.

Moving is hard, starting with finding a place to go. Communities typically need to swap with the federal government, which owns about 60% of Alaska's land. But Congress has to approve swaps, and that's only after negotiations that can drag on: Newtok, for example, began pursuing the Nelson Island land in 1996 and didn't wrap up until late 2003.

“That’s way too long,” said Jackie Qatalina Schaeffer, the director of climate initiatives at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.

“If we look back a decade at what’s happened as far as climate change in Alaska, we’re out of time,” she said. “We need to find a better way to help communities secure land for relocation.”

Kivalina last year completed a master plan for relocation and is negotiating with an Alaska Native regional corporation for the land, a process that could take 3 to 5 years, Schaeffer said.

Another big hurdle is cost. Newtok has spent decades and about $160 million in today’s dollars on its move. Estimates to relocate Kivalina vary from $100 million to $400 million and rising, and there's currently no federal funding for relocation. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has disaster funding and programs, Schaeffer said, but that comes only after a disaster declaration.

In 2018, a resource for Alaska communities identified 60 federal funding sources for relocation, but according to the Unmet Needs report, only a few have been successfully used to address environmental threats. But an infusion of funding into these existing programs by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act could provide benefits to threatened Alaska communities, the report said.

About $4.3 billion in 2020 dollars will be needed to mitigate infrastructure damage over the next 50 years, the health consortium report says. It called for Congress to close an $80 million annual gap by providing a single committed source to assist communities.

“Alaska Native economic, social, and cultural ways of being, which have served so well for millennia, are now under extreme threat due to accelerated environmental change,” the report said. “In jeopardy are not just buildings, but the sustainability of entire communities and cultures.”

After five years of separation and split lives, the residents of Newtok and Mertarvik will be one again. The school in Newtok closed and classes started in August for the first time in a temporary location in Mertarvik. A new school building should be ready in 2026. The Newtok grocery recently moved to Mertarvik, and there's plans for a second grocery and a church, Calvin Tom said.

The new village site has huge benefits, including better health, Tom said. For now, most of the people of Mertarvik are still using a “honey bucket” system rather than toilets. But that method of manually dumping plastic buckets of waste should be replaced by piped water and sewer within the next few years. The new homes in Mertarvik are also free of black mold that crept into some Newtok homes on moisture brought by the remnants of Typhoon Merbok two years ago.

Tom said there's talk of someday renaming the relocated town Newtok. Whatever the name, the relocation offers assurance that culture and traditions from the old place will continue. An Indigenous drum and dance group is practicing at the temporary school, and subsistence hunting opportunities — moose, musk ox, black bear, brown bear — abound.

A pod of belugas that comes by every fall should arrive soon, and that hunt will help residents fill their freezers for the harsh winter ahead.

Ashley Tom is excited by the arrival of the last Newtok residents in Mertarvik. Although their home will be different than what they’ve known for most of their lives, she’s confident they will come to appreciate it as she has.

“I really love this this new area, and I just feel whole here,” she said.

Thiessen reported from Anchorage.

This story was first published on Sep. 26, 2024. It was updated on Sep. 28, 2024 to correct the number of villages facing infrastructure damage from erosion, 144 not 114. It also corrects the name of the organization that authored the Unmet Needs report, and where Jackie Qatalina Schaeffer works as the director of climate initiatives. It is the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, not the Alaska Native Travel Health Consortium.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Jennifer sits with her daughter Girlie, 4, at their home on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Marie Carl, 75, sits at the kitchen table at her home on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Bosco and Jennifer Carl say grace with their children before a meal at their home on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, in Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Homes of people who relocated from Newtok, Alaska are visible in Mertarvik, Alaska on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A young girl prepares to participate in an Indigenous drum and dance on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Marie Carl, 75, performs during an Indigenous drum and dance in Mertarvik, Alaska on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Girlie Carl, 4, plays with her grandmother Marie Carl, 75, on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A girl plays with a dog on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, in Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Children play along the tundra on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, in Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Water and patches of green are visible near Mertarvik, Alaska Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A young man drives an ATV on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, Mertarvik, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

A resident drives along a flooded boardwalk on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024, in Newtok, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Power poles lean in the village of Newtok, Alaska on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Calvin Tom, the tribal administrator, stands along the eroded coastline in Newtok, Alaska on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

An abandoned home is locked up in Newtok, Alaska on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Permafrost melts on the coast in Newtok, Alaska on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Ashley Tom tends to her plants at her home in Mertarvik, Alaska, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Calvin Tom, left, the tribal administrator, lifts his son Brady Tom into his boat in Mertarvik, Alaska on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Charles Alexie stands along the coastal erosion that has eaten away at the riverbanks on Friday, Aug. 16, 2024, in Newtok, Alaska. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

MONTREAL (AP) — Scottie Scheffler delivered big shots late in two matches, and Patrick Cantlay capped off a strong recovery by living up to his “Patty Ice” reputation with a clutch birdie in the dark that gave the Americans an 11-7 lead on a long Saturday at the Presidents Cup.

Scheffler finished off a tight fourballs match with two late birdies in the fog-delayed morning, and then he gave the Americans their first lead in foursomes with a wedge into a foot on the 14th hole that led to another point.

The 90-minute fog delay made it a race to beat darkness. Carts pulled up alongside the 18th green at Royal Montreal with lights on to help illuminate the green. Cantlay and Xander Schauffele were all square with the dynamic South Korean duo of Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim.

Both had birdie putts just inside 17 feet — a 2-inch difference. Cantlay went first and poured it in the heart, just like he did with so many putts Saturday morning in a fourballs victory with Sam Burns.

Si Woo Kim, who produced so many big moments, couldn't answer this one.

The Americans won three out of the four matches in both sessions, expanding the lead to the same margin it was two years ago at Quail Hollow.

All that's left for them to make it 10 straight victories in the Presidents Cup are the 12 singles matches. The International team has won the singles session only three out of 14 times, all of them when it trailed by at least six points and the cup had been all but decided.

“Xander helped me read it,” Cantlay said of his match winner in near darkness. “It was like a cup out with some speed, and a putt like that will make me sleep a little better tonight.”

There was some measure of payback for Cantlay and Schauffele. It was late Saturday at Quail Hollow when Tom Kim buried a big putt at the end and slammed his cap to the turf, an audacious celebration for the 20-year-old.

This time, Si Woo Kim holed an unlikely chip from deep rough below the 16th green to square the match, and he ran across the green with his hands folded in a “Good night” gesture, much like Stephen Currey at the Paris Olympics this summer.

Not so fast. Cantlay's putt and that final point again put the Internationals in a deep hole as they try to win for the only the second time. Their only win was in 1998, before Tom Kim was even born.

Adam Scott, playing in his 11th Presidents Cup without ever being on the winning side, carried Taylor Pendrith to a 2-and-1 victory in foursomes over Brian Harman and Max Homa, the only International point in foursomes.

Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim won big over Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark in morning fourballs for the lone International victory.

They were all square or leading in all the afternoon matches at one point until the Americans took control, as they often do. Morikawa and Burns dug out of an early hole and beat the Canadian duo of Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes on the 18th hole when when Hughes hit a poor chip and Conners never came close on the 12-foot par putt.

Scheffler missed a pair of short par putts early in the match against Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im in falling 3 down after five holes. Scheffler and Russell Henley scratched back — one hole at a time, Henley kept reminding him — caught them on the 12th and pulled ahead when Scheffler's late heroics.

International captain Mike Weir sent out his same teams twice, meaning four players — Jason Day, Min Woo Lee, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Byeong Hun An — sat out all of Saturday.

“We like the matchups, we like the pairings, and we’re rolling with it,” Weir said.

In the anchor match in the morning, Im three times matched birdies against Cantlay and Burns to keep the match from getting out of hand. Cantlay chipped in for eagle on the 12th for a 2-up lead. And then Im and Hideki Matsuyama — mostly Im — tried to rally.

Im hit to 6 feet on the 15th, only for Cantlay to make from 25 feet. Im was in tight again on the 16th and Cantlay poured in his putt from 18 feet. Instead of the match being all square with two to play, the Americans were dormie and closed out the match when Matsuyama missed an 8-foot birdie attempt.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

International team members Adam Scott, of Australia, and Taylor Pendrith, of Canada, head back to the clubhouse from the first hole after play was suspended due to fog at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States team captain Jim Furyk, top, grabs a ride with United States team member Keegan Bradley, left, and Mike "Fluff" Cowan driving during their fourth-round foursomes match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Montreal Golf Club, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Montreal. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

International team member Mackenzie Hughes, of Canada, reacts after his shot on the 17th hole during a fourth-round foursomes match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States team member Patrick Cantlay, right, celebrates with partner Xander Schauffele, left, after winning their fourth-round foursomes match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

International team member Si Woo Kim, right, of South Korea, celebrates with partner Tom Kim, left, also of South Korea, after a birdie putt on the fifth hole during a fourth-round foursomes match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (NathanDenette/The Canadian Press via AP)

International team member Si Woo Kim, center front, of South Korea, looks for his ball on the16th hole during a fourth-round foursomes match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (NathanDenette/The Canadian Press via AP)

International team member Tom Kim of South Korea, reacts after a poor approach shot on the 16th hole during their fourth round foursomes match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Montreal Golf Club Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 in Montreal. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

International team member Si Woo Kim of South Korea, reacts after missing his putt on the 18th hole during their fourth round foursomes match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Montreal Golf Club Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 in Montreal. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

International team member Si Woo Kim of South Korea, celebrates after chipping in to win the 16th hole during their fourth round foursomes match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Montreal Golf Club Saturday, September 28, 2024 in Montreal. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States team member Patrick Cantlay reacts after making the winning putt on the 18th hole during their fourth round foursomes match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Montreal Golf Club Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 in Montreal. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States team member Patrick Cantlay reacts after making the winning putt on the 18th hole during their fourth round foursomes match at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Montreal Golf Club Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024 in Montreal. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

United States team member Patrick Cantlay plays a shot on the sixth hole during the third round at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

International team members Tom Kim, right, celebrates with partner Si Woo Kim, both of South Korea, after winning the 12th hole during the third round at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

Adam Scott, left, of Australia, and Taylor Pendrith, of Canada, look on at the first green during third round four-ball play at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Montreal Golf Club, in Montreal, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Graham Hughes /The Canadian Press via AP)

United States team member Scottie Scheffler, right, shakes hands with partner Collin Morikawa after making a putt on the 15th hole during the third round at the Presidents Cup golf tournament at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)