Island Press Field Notes

Ted Schuur has spent the better part of his career making the connection between climate change and wildfires that are burning an increasing amount of land in Alaska and in sub-Arctic and Arctic forests around the world. So the Northern Arizona University scientist wasn’t all that surprised this summer to find his field stations in the interior of Alaska surrounded by fires on three sides. At the time, the state was well on track to recording its second-worst fire season ever.

I began my career as forest ecologist in the 1990s, cataloging the remarkable web-of-life in the old-growth rainforests of Prince of Wales Island. Since then, I have worked with rainforest ecologists around the world to document exceptional places like the Tongass and how they can contribute to a global climate change solution. Last April, hundreds of scientists, including myself, sent President Obama a letter asking him to include the Tongass as Alaska’s first line of climate defense.

A new report that highlights specific examples of climate adaptation in the Midwest published this [last?] week in partnership with National Wildlife Federation. Informed by the data of Climate Change in the Midwest: A Synthesis Report for the National Climate Assessment, Weather We Don’t Recognize is an accessible primer on the new climate realities in the Midwest and why they matter.

A drought- and disease-resistant wheat variety growing in Pakistan.