As this blazing hot and drought-stricken summer continues across the western US and Canada, it’s not just us humans feeling the heat. Stream flows are reaching dangerously low levels and high water temperatures, which stress cold-water species like trout, foreshadow fish kills in many iconic streams. Terrestrial species are suffering as well. Take black bears for example. The heat and drought diminish the wild foods bears rely on, sending more of the bruins out of the hills i

Like many of you, I’m sweltering through an historic heatwave plaguing the Pacific Northwest and northern Rocky Mountains. My hometown in Montana already has had more 90+ degree days by July 4th than we used to have all summer. As the heat dries out forests, wildland fires will follow. We know the pattern. This lengthy hot spell is another reminder of the ongoing shift in our planet’s atmospheric equilibrium. A changing climate is not going to disrupt Earth’s life systems. It