Tourists traditionally head to Alaska for cruises and fishing, but for a growing number, it’s a global warming pilgrimage. Heating up five times faster than anyplace else, Alaska has drawn politicians, scientists, and now tourists to see the melting future, the Christian Science Monitor reports. “This has immediate consequences,” one visitor said. “Perspective you don't get on the East Coast.”
“Alaska is the distant early-warming system for the future of climate change,” one trip organizer said. Others just want to see the ice-coated landscape before it melts away. Features like Exit Glacier are already receding from view. “We get a lot of [repeat visitors] who say, ‘What happened to it?’” said the supervisor of a nearby park. (More climate change stories.)