In Alaska, prisons are part of the climate problem

With correctional centers crumbling atop melting glaciers, advocates are pushing to reduce prison populationsOver millions of years, glaciers slid across what is now northern Juneau, forming the craggy valleys and alluvial plains of south-east Alaska. Then about 200 years ago, when these glaciers shrank amid rising global temperatures, meltwater flowed downstream, depositing loose, silty soil along bodies of water like Lemon Creek.In 1969, the state chose to build a prison on this flat land - despite an assessment that the glacial deposits would be "poor ? material" for the building's foundation. Continue reading...