Erosion progression and adaptation strategy in a northern coastal community

The potential impacts of progressing shoreline erosion in northern coastal communities include significant and sustained loss of developed land, and the associated public health, safety and cost issues. Some of these impacts are being seen in the community of Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, located along a narrow peninsula reaching out into the Arctic Ocean. Since 1934, storms blowing in from the northwest, across the Beaufort Sea have eroded the land of the original permanent settlement. A concerted scientific effort has focused on monitoring, and analyzing the shoreline erosion and the potential influencing factors to the erosion. This information has provided a basis for a 25 year prediction of the shoreline erosion variation along the peninsula. In order to develop an appropriate adaptation strategy, an evaluation was completed on the erosion risk over a 25 year period to quantify both the value, and the cost versus benefit of protecting or relocating particular buildings.