GCSE Geography | Challenges in Alaska (Cold Environments 6)

The harsh conditions in Alaska make life very challenging.

Extreme cold in Alaska

Alaska is a huge state, however very few people live in the northern interior due to the extreme cold and long dark days over winter. Permafrost and the short growing season means that crops cannot be grown in this area, therefore the land is unable to support people. Early settlers chose to set up communities along the coast where they could fish and hunt seals. Traditional Inuit people survived the extreme temperatures by using caribou skins to make coats, seal skins to make boots, and lined their clothing with goose down. More recently these indigenous communities have adopted modern manmade materials, such as Gore-tex.

Inaccessibility in Alaska

Population density in Alaska is very low - less than one person per square kilometre. As a result surfaced roads have not been constructed across most of the state, meaning that people have to make their own way around.

There are some roads and rough tracks in place but these can be difficult and dangerous to use for a number of reasons...

Firstly, they are covered in heavy snow or thick ice for much of the year, which makes them unusable.

Secondly, the process of solifluction can cut off roads in the summer - solifluction occurs when the permafrost begins to thaw. Only the top layer thaws out, leaving an impermeable frozen layer below, which waterlogged soil can slide over easily. In hilly areas large amounts of soil and mud can accumulate at the base of slopes, which can completely cover the roads that wind through valley floors. When this happens it can cut off settlements for weeks or months.

Thirdly, most of Alaska is covered in permafrost. The top layer melts during the summer but the frozen layer below is impermeable and stops the meltwater from infiltrating. This means land gets extremely waterlogged and is too dangerous to drive off-road on.

Finally, the repeated cycle of seasonal melting and re-freezing results in thermokarst - this is extremely uneven marshy hollows which make travel impossible in places.

Building in Alaska

The active layer of permafrost melting provides a huge challenge when building in Alaska - early settlers constructed homes which gave off heat from their bases, which melted the frozen ground below, making the ground unstable and causing subsidence - as a result many of these homes had to be pulled down. Huge areas of Alaska have had the permafrost damaged due to this.

Buildings today have to be built on piles that lift them above the surface of the ground to prevent melting. Many builders choose telescopic piles which expand and contract with ground movement. Most houses have steep roofs which enables the snow to slide off, and triple-glazed windows to prevent heat loss.

Infrastructure also has to be carefully constructed - roads are built on metre thick gravel pads that prevent heat from tyres, exhaust fumes, etc, melting the ground below, and airport runways are painted white, which reflects sunlight rather than absorbing heat like tarmac or concrete surfaces usually, and stops the ground warming up on sunny days.

Despite its remoteness, Alaska is part of the USA, which is one of the more affluent countries of the world. So residents and visitors expect comfortable living conditions - they want to live or stay in buildings that are properly heated and want services such as sanitation, reliable electricity and hot showers to help them thaw when they have been out in the cold all day. In the UK we use underground pipes to provide essential water and sewage services to buildings, however in Alaska these have to be constructed above ground, with water heated to stop it from freezing, and pipes bursting. They need to be raised slightly off the ground and well insulated to prevent them thawing the permafrost, but also to enable regular maintenance.