image
On a summer bird hunt, Kenyon Kassaiuli, Jonah Andy, Larry Charles, and Reese John cross a flooded walkway in Newtok, Alaska. May 27th, 2019. The Yupik village of Newtok, Alaska, population 380, is sinking as the permafrost beneath it thaws. Erosion has already wiped out nearly a mile of Newtok's land, and it is estimated that in three to five years it could be underwater. The entire village is in the process of moving to Mertarvik, a new village site about nine miles away. Newtok is the first community in Alaska that has already begun relocation as a direct result of climate change—pioneering a process that many other Alaskan villages may soon undergo. (Katie Orlinsky, for National Geographic) NO SALES, THIS MATERIAL IS FOR SINGLE USE PUBLICATIONS IN PRINT OR FOR A TEMPORARY ONLINE PUBLICATION, AND MAY BE USED EXCLUSIVELY TO PUBLICIZE THE 2020 WORLD PRESS CONTEST AND EXHIBITION. IT MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED AS PART OF AN ARTICLE OR ANY OTHER ITEM THAT CONTAINS NO DIRECT LINK TO WORLD PRESS PHOTO AND ITS ACTIVITIES. THE PICTURE MAY NOT BE CROPPED OR MANIPULATED IN ANY WAY. KEYSTONE PROVIDES ACCESS TO THIS PUBLICLY DISTRIBUTED HANDOUT PHOTO. THE COPYRIGHT IS OWNED BY A THIRD PARTY.