February 15, 2018 — Late last year one of the world’s largest credit rating agencies announced that climate change would have an economic impact on the U.S.
Moody’s suggested that climate risks could become credit risks for some U.S. states.
Even though Alaska is warming nearly twice as fast as the rest of the U.S., its credit rating doesn’t seem to be in danger. But take a closer look at some of the state’s coastal communities and the story changes, especially when Alaska’s fishing towns consider adding climate risks to their balance sheets.
Frank Kelty is the mayor of the Unalaska, a tiny town is on an island sandwiched between the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska, near some of the richest fishing grounds in the world.
Kelty has been there for 45 years, and lately, he’s seen a lot of changes.
“We’ve had a huge increase in humpback whales coming right into the inner harbor by the road system. Just hundreds of them hanging around,” he said.
People have been pulling off of the road to watch what he calls the “whale show.”