JUNEAU, Alaska --- Global warming conjures images of rising seas that
threaten coastal areas. But in Juneau, as almost nowhere else in the
world, climate change is having the opposite effect: As the glaciers
here melt, the land is rising [3 Inches per Year] , causing the sea to
retreat.
A few decades ago, large boats could sail regularly along Gastineau
Channel between Downtown Juneau and Douglas Island, to Auke Bay, a port
about 10 miles to the northwest. Today, much of the channel is exposed
mudflat at low tide. "There is so much sediment coming in from the
Mendenhall Glacier and the rivers --- it has basically silted in," said
Bruce Molnia, a geologist at the United States Geological Survey
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/u/united_states_geological_survey/index.html?inline=nyt-org>
who studies Alaskan glaciers.