In Shishmaref, Alaska, new seawalls are constructed while residents
navigate the many practical and bureaucratic obstacles to moving their
entire island village to higher ground. Farther south, inland hunters
and fishermen set out to grow more of their own food--and to support the
reintroduction of wood bison, an ancient species well suited to expected
habitat changes. First Nations people in Canada team with
conservationists to protect land for both local use and environmental
resilience.
In Early Warming, Alaskan Writer Laureate, Nancy Lord, takes a
cutting-edge look at how communities in the North--where global warming
is amplified and climate-change effects are most immediate--are
responding with desperation and creativity. This beautifully written and
measured narrative takes us deep into regions where the indigenous
people who face life-threatening change also demonstrate impressive
conservation ethics and adaptive capacities. Underpinned by a long
acquaintance with the North and backed with scientific and political
sophistication, Lord's vivid account brings the challenges ahead for us
all into ice-water clarity.