On August 10, 2025, a massive rockslide crashed into Alaska's Tracy Arm fjord, generating a 100-meter-high wave that surged up the opposite shoreline to 481 meters — the second-highest tsunami ever recorded on Earth. The 63.5 million cubic meters of rock plunged into the fjord at 5:26 am, when few people were present.

University of Calgary researchers found climate change drove the disaster. The South Sawyer Glacier had braced the slope for centuries, but summer temperatures rose 1.1°C since 1875, pushing the snowline up 169 meters. Between 2013 and 2022, the glacier thinned by 100-130 meters, leaving the rock face unsupported. Without the ice holding it back, the steep slope collapsed.

The wave's force registered globally as a magnitude 5.4 earthquake. Fortunately, the early morning timing prevented casualties, though kayakers 55 kilometers away reported gear being swept away and a cruise ship experienced a three-meter surge 85 kilometers from the source. During peak season, over 20 vessels navigate the fjord daily, including cruise ships carrying thousands of passengers — this time, luck prevailed.