Alaska’s Famous Fjords Are Becoming a Cruise Ship Nightmare

On the morning of August 10, 2025, a massive landslide struck Alaska’s Tracy Arm fjord, a popular destination for many cruise lines. The landslide triggered a 1,578-foot-tall (481-meter-tall) mega-tsunami that would have devastated any passing ships. Fortunately, none were present at that early hour, but future vessels may not be so lucky. A study published in Science today found that climate change is making fjord regions increasingly dangerous to ship traffic. The findings show that glacial retreat preconditioned the landslide and resulting tsunami on August 10, and as global temperatures continue to rise, such events will only become more common. “With fjord regions increasingly visited by cruise ships, and climate change making similar events more likely, this unanticipated, near-miss event highlights the growing risk from landslides and tsunamis in coastal environments,” the authors write. Tracy Arm is a 30-mile-long (50-kilometer-long) fjord located about 50 miles (80 km) southeast of Juneau, Alaska. It’s terminated by two tidewater glaciers: Sawyer Glacier and South Sawyer Glacier. At the Last Glacial Maximum roughly 20,000 years ago, Tracy Arm was fully occupied by glacial