Into the Thaw: Witnessing Wonder amid the Arctic Climate Crisis (by Jon Waterman)

Forty years ago, park ranger Jon Waterman took his first journey to Alaska's Noatak River.

Click here to learn more about the effects of climate change on the Arctic with interactive maps from ESRI.

He was astonished by the abundant wildlife and the strange Arctic landscape and its otherworldly light, so he continued on dozens of explorations throughout the north. After a 30-year absence, Waterman returned to the Noatak in 2021 and 2022.

He observed brush grown over the tundra, teardrop-shaped landslides, or thermokarsts, caused by thawing permafrost, and an increasing loss of sea ice. Waterman, a photographer and published author, captures both the villages and the rarely visited landscape, because "it's high time that we truly understand the Arctic," he writes, "lest we forget what it once was." Waterman shows how the Arctic can confer grace on those who pass through and also creates a narrative of hope: He suggests actions we can all take to slow the thaw and preserve what is left of this remarkable, vast frontier.

Details

• About the Author

  Waterman found his calling as a writer while making photographs on expeditions more than 40 years ago. Drawn to the physical challenge and peace he felt in the natural world, he continually fell short explaining this allure to others. The necessity of being fully present in the outdoors to witness beauty, and then to preserve the natural world, became essential to him, so he turned to writing to explain both adventure and conservation.
  
  He has also made and written television films.
  
  Waterman is mostly known for his northern explorations, detailed in many of his books and countless journals since 1978. He lives in Carbondale, Colorado.

• Endorsement

  "A marvelous compendium of Jon Waterman's forty years in the high Arctic of Alaska and Nunavut. Combining geology, anthropology, climate science with intimate journal entries, Waterman's wanderings etch into our minds a vivid view of wild beauty, collapsing villages, icescapes and tundra, deeply altered by a changing climate. This lovely book is joy to read and a warning."—Gretel Ehrlich, author of The Solace of Open Spaces and This Cold Heaven

• Endorsement

  "Only Jon Waterman, with his decades of Arctic adventuring and his astounding reporter’s eye, could have written such an eloquent, impassioned, and essential ode to the far north."—Michael Finkel, bestselling author of The Stranger in the Woods and The Art Thief

• Endorsement

  “A beautiful, compelling book of the profound effects of anthropogenic climate change on America’s last and grandest wilderness.”—Roman Dial, author of The Adventurer’s Son

• Specifications

  Hardcover; 304 pages printed in full color with over 80 photos and maps throughout; 8.5" x 9.3"

• Publisher

  Published by Patagonia

• Country of Origin

  Made in Canada.

• Last Season Color Offered at Full Price

Materials & Care Instructions

• Printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper

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If you would like to reflect on the ideas presented in Into the Thaw, click here for our Reader’s Guide.