Witnessing Climate Change in one of America’s Last Wild Places Patagonia to publish a first-hand account of the Arctic crisis, from Jon Waterman, author of the bestselling Atlas of the National Parks
More than 40 years ago, he worked as a rescue ranger at Alaska’s Denali National Park, and his 1983 patrol to the Noatak River in Gates of the Arctic National Park sparked a lifetime fascination with the wild, remote regions of the North. He was astonished by the abundant wildlife above the Arctic Circle, amid a strange landscape and otherworldly light—how the “frequent rain showers glow like lemonade poured out of the sky.”
Transitioning from park ranger to an adventure and environmental writer, Waterman embarked on scores of expeditions to the North, often traveling solo by boat and on foot to document the natural wonders and cultural heritage across Arctic North America.
After a long hiatus from the Noatak headwaters, he returned with his son in 2021, witnessing firsthand the effects of climate change that he chronicled in a New York Times op-ed: “36 Years Later, the Climate Changes at This National Park Stunned Me.” Amid a river now flooded, overgrown with brush, and bereft of once-abundant caribou, he was deeply disheartened by the many transformations.
In 2022, Waterman took a final, extended expedition “into the thaw” with the professional kayaker and photographer Chris Korbulic to carefully document the environmental and cultural changes caused by the climate crisis. They covered more than 500 miles on foot and by packraft down the entire river, then up the coast, passing through three different National Park Service lands to meet with scientists, interview Iñupiat (the Alaskan Inuit), investigate the many impacts of the Arctic climate crisis, and celebrate the enduring wonder of this special place.
Into the Thaw alternates between adventure and wilderness memoir, side-noted with scholarly research into climate change and natural history. Waterman recounts encounters with bears, enduring weeks alone amidst swarms of mosquitoes, and witnessing phenomena like the Greening of the Arctic, teardrop-shaped landslides (thermokarsts) caused by thawing permafrost, and an increasing loss of sea ice as he travels along the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. The book features 78 stunning color photographs and a half dozen detailed maps. Complimentary Reader’s and Teacher’s Guides, as well as an interactive story map, will be available at Patagonia.com.
With humor and humility, Waterman not only shows how climate change has impacted the land, sea, and animals, but also the kindhearted, welcoming Inuit people. Most affected by a crisis that has heated up the Arctic several times faster than the rest of the world, the ever-resilient villagers share how their age-old culture has attempted to cope with “the thaw.” Waterman paints an intimate portrait of the North—with its treasured parklands—because “it’s high time that we truly understand the Arctic,” he writes, “lest we forget what it once was.”
Despite the unfolding climate crisis, Into the Thaw is a book about wonder—and through one man’s life-changing experiences in the wilderness—the narrative ends with a message of hope, urging actionable steps to mitigate further thawing and preserve the Arctic's extraordinary biodiversity and cultural heritage.
Praise
“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
“Gripping first-hand account… full of stunning photographs… a sinuous, passionate memoir.”—Foreword Review [Indie journal]
“A beautiful, compelling book about the profound effects of anthropogenic climate change on America’s last and grandest wilderness.” —Roman Dial, Arctic scientist and author of The Adventurer’s Son
“This lovely book is joy to read … a vivid view of wild beauty, collapsing villages, ice-scapes and tundra, deeply altered by a changing climate.”– Gretel Ehrlich, author of The Solace of Open Spaces and This Cold Heaven
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