--- title: Climate Change Aided Shipwreck Discovery, Scientists Say description: The two ships sank in 1871 off the coast of Alaska. canonical: https://time.com/4171073/climate-change-shipwreck-discoveries-arctic/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-07T16:24:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:56:36.165Z article:section: Science og:title: Climate Change May Have Aided Discovery of Century-old Shipwreck og:description: The two ships sank in 1871 off the coast of Alaska og:url: https://time.com/4171073/climate-change-shipwreck-discoveries-arctic/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Climate Change May Have Aided Discovery of Century-old Shipwreck twitter:description: The two ships sank in 1871 off the coast of Alaska twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Climate Change May Have Aided Discovery of Century-old Shipwreck > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Kiribati: See Life on the Front Lines of Climate Change [Watch (HLS stream): Kiribati: See Life on the Front Lines of Climate Change](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mQPqsfCg.m3u8) (3:10)  _Published 2015-12-10. The island nation of Kiribati, halfway between Hawaii and Australia, is a touch of paradise. But thie way of life is under threat. Climate change could spell doom to the Pacific island's very existence._  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Jan 7, 2016 4:24 PM UTC  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Jan 7, 2016 4:24 PM UTC Archaeologists have [found](http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/07/us/arctic-shipwreck-discovered/index.html) the 19th-century wreckage of two whaling ships off the coast of Alaska, and [climate change](http://time.com/4146764/paris-agreement-climate-cop-21/) may have [made the discoveries possible](http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2016/010616-remains-of-lost-1800s-whaling-fleet-discovered-off-alaskas-arctic-coast.html), scientists said. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that its members had found the ships, which were part of a whaling fleet of 33 that became stranded and sank in 1871\. None of the vessels had been found until now, because melting ice in the area provides easier access to the seabed below. “With less ice in the Arctic as a result of climate change, archaeologists now have more access to potential shipwreck sites than ever before,” the NOAA [said in a statement](http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2016/010616-remains-of-lost-1800s-whaling-fleet-discovered-off-alaskas-arctic-coast.html). In September of 1871, an ice pack trapped the 33 ships and their whaling crews near the Alaskan coast. The people aboard were eventually rescued, but the ships broke down and sank. Along with the increased accessibility, NOAA scientists used sonar and sensing technology to determine the “magnetic signature” of the ships, so that their outlines were visible from above water. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] The island nation of Kiribati, halfway between Hawaii and Australia, is a touch of paradise. 33 atolls and reef islands where people live like they have for centuries. All necessities can be found in the nature. No need for money. No social classes. Plenty of time to play. But this way of life is under threat. Climate change could spell doom to Kariba's very existence. The fragile ecosystems of the reefs are becoming badly damaged by the warmer and more acidic ocean. The rising sea level has depleted the soil so crops can hardly grow and salt water has polluted the drinking water. An increasing number of people are seeking their fortunes in the capital, Tarawa. Over crowding forced people to settle on the beach, where they are even more vulnerable to the increasingly frequent extreme tides. Flooding has become a part of everyday life. Well I have this fear in me now seeing all the floods. You used to have like, I want to say [ INAUDIBLE ], but since the [ INAUDIBLE ] it's like living in two or three months time. We have this high sea level. Now we think that it's it not just from the seaside. It's coming mostly from the land and from all other sides. So it's becoming a real concern. According to the United Nations panel on climate change, the sea level rises by three millimeters every year. For [ UNKNOWN ] one of the lowest lying nations in the world, that's enough to put climate change on top of the national agenda. I know there's a lot of speculation and a lot of skepticism about the issue of climate change in the In the international arena. But for us here in Caribas it's a cross [ UNKNOWN ] issue. And meaning that it affects all areas. Within less than half a century the countries will be under water. We can look at it from another perspective as a [ UNKNOWN ] or tsunami. [ NOISE ] The government of Jerabus is building sea walls and planting mangrove trees to protect the land. But it's also preparing to lose the battle against the sea. Among other strategies the government has bought land 1300 miles away on Fiji where it could evacuate the entire population if worse came to worst. Inhabitants are already reluctantly getting used to the thought of abandoning their motherland. I really don't know how my grandchildren will be in that day. Will they give up? I know that they will move from here. But I do know where too. Are you sad that they will may not live in Kidavas. I am not sad because they are moving away from their country which is no more. Until then, it's an anxious wait. In what might become a paradise lost. 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