The Alexander Archipelago in Southeast Alaska is a collection of thousands of islands in one of the scarce pockets remaining on this planet where thick moss blankets the forest floor and trees range from tiny seedlings to ancient giants. But I wasn’t loading into that Cessna four-seater to look for fairy-tale forests of spruce, hemlock, and cedar. I was flying in search of mass graveyards of standing dead trees and the plants I so wanted to believe could tell me, through science, that maybe the world is not coming to an end through warming. Eventually, those dying trees would give me a sense of conviction about our ability to cope with climate change.

I tightened the seatbelt, tugged the straps