blue-gray seascape with low clouds.

As climate change alters beloved landscapes, we feel the loss

The environment’s chaotic transformation is damaging many of our favorite places—and causing a shared ‘homesickness’.

A stretch of the Chukchi Sea, between Russia and Alaska, in summer. The average extent of the sea’s ice in 2019 was the lowest since satellites began tracking it in 1978. Without ice, coastal communities have had to alter the hunting strategies they’ve used for generations.

This story is part of the pessimistic argument for the future of the planet in our special issue on Earth Day. Read the optimistic argument and the rest of our stories here.
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