* Apple users running MacOSX 10.4 or later must install Microsoft's Silverlight software in order to view the streaming videos marked with *. Once installed, restart your browser before viewing. Silverlight 4.0 intel (14MB) | Silverlight 1.0 ppc (5MB) WATCH AND LISTEN shorter Unacceptable Risk: Firefighters on the Front Lines of Climate Change The Story Group A vivid short film about the on-the-ground experiences of veteran wildfire fighters in Colorado, where fires fueled by heat and drought have increased the length of the the fire season and the intensity and size of wildfires. (12 minutes, February 2015) Badru's Story: Inside Africa's Impenetrable Forest Benjamin Drummond and Sara Joy Steele Winner of the 2014 Yale Environment 360 Video Contest, this short film documents the work done by Badru Mugerwa and others to monitor (via remote cameras) the wildlife of Uganda's deep mountain forests. Some amazing images accompany this inspiring story. (6 minutes, 2014) Badru's Story: Inside Africa's Impenetrable Forest Benjamin Drummond and Sara Joy Steele Winner of the 2014 Yale Environment 360 Video Contest, this short film documents the work done by Badru Mugerwa and others to monitor (via remote cameras) the wildlife of Uganda's deep mountain forests. Some amazing images accompany this inspiring story. (6 minutes, 2014) Explained in 90 Seconds: How Climate Change Fuels Wildfires James West, Climate Desk, Wired In this short, clear video, Professor Matthew Hurteau of Pennsylvania State University links climate change, prolonged drought, fire suppression, and wildfires. See below the video for a link to a June 2013 story by James West (in Mother Jones) that explains the links at more length. (90 seconds, August 2013) (7 minutes, February 2010) longer READ books articles & essays This Is What our Future Looks Like: Hellfire Jonn Valliant, The Guardian, October 2018 This is an especially vivid terrifying account of what happened in the Carr fire in California in the summer of 2018. Valliant looks closely at what happened, with lots of attention both to the fire dynamics (the best term seems to be "fire tornado") and to the effects on the people whose world burned. Trees Could Change the Climate More than Scientists Thought Gabriel Popkin and Quanta, The Atlantic, October 2018 Though this science is a good deal older than this article suggests, here is a good explanation of how forests apparently affect weather and climate, not just the reverse. Can 'Moneyball' Fix How the West Manages Wildfire? Tony Schick, Northwest Public Broadcasting, July 2018 A thorough and lucid look at the question of when and how to let wildfires burn‒and the difficulties built into these questions. Read or listen. Climate Change, Wildfire, and the Future of Forests Christopher Solomon, Outside Online, April 2018 We are used to thinking that when forests burn, new forests grow back. But this may no longer be the case, as climate change both increases the intensity and size of many fires and also alters the underlying conditions in which forests become established. Now, when a forest burns, it might be replaced by something quite different, perhaps not even trees. This piece is a good introduction to a complicated issue that doesn't get looked at as much as it needs to be. Stark Evidence: A Warmer World Is Sparking More and Bigger Wildfires Nicola Jones, Yale Environment 360, October 2017 This short, readable, and well-researched article surveys some key whys and therefores of recent and expected increases in wildfires in some parts of the world, including the western US and Canada. For a similarly good overview, see Chelsea Harvey's " Here's What We Know about Wildfires and Climate Change," ClimateWire, October 2017. Small Pests, Big Problems: The Global Spread of Bark Beetles Cheryl Katz, Yale Environment 360, September 2017 A good overview of the devastating spread of bark beetles that kill forest trees, and not just in North America. New areas, new species of trees, significant die-offs: the scale of this problem is "unprecedented historically." Climate change is a key cause. A related issue: do beetle-killed forests burn more often or more hotly? Maybe sometimes, as intuition might expect, but much of the available evidence suggests not, as explained by this 2016 piece from News Deeply, "The Surprising Science of Wildfires and Tree Killing Beetles." Researcher Finds New Evidence of Western Forest Decline Daniel Grossman, Yale Climate Connections, August 2017 Around 2008, large stands of aspen trees in parts of the American West suddenly and mysteriously died in what came to be named SAD, Sudden Aspen Decline. Probably, scientists later deduced, the cause was drought. This piece updates that story with ongoing research: will subsequent droughts kill the trees most vulnerable to drying out? The Future of Fighting Wildfires in the Era of Climate Change Bob Berwyn, Pacific Standard, April 2017 As wildfires get bigger (and much more expensive), we will need to figure out better ways to deal with them. Since we will never win the larger battle against fire, "We have to learn to live with it and adapt": choose which fires to fight, think carefully about where to replant, manage strategically, get used to the idea that we are going to lose parts of familiar landscapes . . . The Forests of the World Are in Serious Trouble, Scientists Report Chris Mooney, The Washington Post, August 2015 A good summary of the August 21 issue of the journal Science that focuses on this topic, with descriptions of threats‒including those linked to climate change‒to four kinds of forests, tropical, temperate, boreal, and planted. How Megafires Are Remaking American Forests Laura Parker, National Geographic, August 2015 What happens when really big fires burn? They may permanently change the landscape. Such fires are expected to become the norm, and so scientists are paying attention. The Fate of Trees: How Climate Change May Alter Forests Worldwide Jeff Tietz, Rolling Stone, March 2015 Sobering but clear, informative, and broad piece about forests of the US Southwest and around the world, with especially useful explanations of how heat, water, and carbon dioxide operate in individual trees. Withering Clouds: Climate Change Damaging Biodiverse Costa Rica Forest Ryan Schuessler, Al Jazeera America, February 2015 A good, though sobering, story about what is happening in Costa Rica's cloud forests as temperatures‒and clouds‒rise, pushing living things uphill. Greater Yellowstone in Peril Rocky Mountain Climate Organization and Greater Yellowstone Coalition, September, 2011. 48 pp. Lucid, comprehensive, well-documented, illustrated account of the climate-linked threats to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, parts of six national forests, and more. Includes discussions of pine beetles, grizzly bears, native trout, and wildfire. websites U.S. Forest Service Climate Change Resource Center Articles, guidebooks (about adaptation strategies, for instance), video lectures, information about ongoing research, and links to additional sources, all focused on the effects of climate change on American forest ecosystems. TEACH classes resources