Into the Thaw: Witnessing Wonder Amid Arctic Climate Crisis

(Hardback)

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A award-winning author and photographer returns to the Arctic to document the effects of climate change.

Forty years ago, author and photographer Jon Waterman took his first paddling journey into the Noatak headwaters in the Alaskan Arctic. In this fully illustrated book, he ventures once again, this time into the thaw, documenting the changes both environmental and cultural wrought by climate change. Sharing this eye-opening adventure with his son, Waterman documents the effects on altered land, wildlife and the Inuit-Inupiat life.

A widely published author and photographer, Watermans narrative alternates between adventure and wilderness memoir and plainly stated natural history of the area. He documents the extraordinary changes he sees, both natural man-high wild grasses where none should be, tear-drop-shaped landslide thaw slumpsa.k.a. thermokarstscaused by the melting permafrost -- and manmade -- roads and buildings and pipelines falling crazy aslant as if taken by an earthquake. He describes the journey and his emotions as he witnesses the effects of global warming on one of the places dear to his heart.

Waterman has been a scholar of the Arctic since his first trip 40 years ago. The alternating half chapters offer brief descriptions of the natural history of this unique ecosystem, bringing it alive for those unfamiliar.

Waterman spends time in the villages as well, with the kindhearted, welcoming people most effected by the Arctic collapse. They let him know what it is like to live amid these melting conditions and how it feels to watch their ago-old culture change.

In the end, Waterman offers hope by articulating actions we can all take to slow the thaw and preserve what is left of this remarkable frontier.

Author Bio

Jon Waterman has sought out an unconventional adventurers path since he was a teenager. As a lifelong environmentalist and writer, he has specialized in immersive journeysoften to the Northto develop a sense of place and then share the beauties, cultures, and fragilities of imperiled parts of the world. His wide-ranging expeditions include a winter ascent of the Cassin Ridge on Denali, kayaking the Northwest Passage, dogsledding into and up Canadas Mount Logan, sailing to Hawaii, and boating the Colorado River from source to sea. He has worked as a director of a small press, an editor, a naturalist, a park ranger, a wilderness guide, a photographer, and a filmmaker. Among his many publications, Jons work has appeared in The New York Times, Wild Bird, Outside, Mens Journal, Adventure, and Sailing World. His sixteen books include In the Shadow of Denali, Kayaking the Vermilion Sea, and National Geographic Atlas of the National Parks. By taking risks and tackling difficult issues, his narratives transcend traditional outdoor yarns and have garnered numerous awards, including a Literary Fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts, three Best Adventure Book Awards from the Banff Book Festival, an Emmy, a National Park Service Special Achievement Award, and the Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award. He lives in Carbondale, Colorado.