Category: Forecast Fiction

Spotted Owl

Give A Hoot—Shoot? The Controversial Plan to Save Northern Spotted Owls from Extinction

May 5, 2024

Many human cultures have considered owls omens of death, so it’s perversely fitting that we are now arbiters of their doom. After driving one owl species toward extinction, we propose to save it by killing half a million members of another. How did we end up in this conundrum of ecological ethics? How The Spotted … More Give A Hoot—Shoot? The Controversial Plan to Save Northern Spotted Owls from Extinction

Two people silhouetted against the vivid orange light of a wildfire.

Where There’s Smoke: EPA Air Quality Indices Ignore Deadly Wildfire Pollution

March 19, 2024

Cold air cleansed my lungs as my crampons bit the ice, hungry for the trail after weeks in the garage. February’s frostbite-inducing temperatures had confined most of my runs to the treadmill’s miasma of rubber and sweat. Once the mercury crept into the teens, I pounced on the opportunity to run outdoors again, inhaling the … More Where There’s Smoke: EPA Air Quality Indices Ignore Deadly Wildfire Pollution

A farm in California's Central Coast. Neat green rows stretch toward low hills on the horizon, under a cloud-scudded sky.

Seeds of Change: Cultivating a Sustainable Food System

February 11, 2024

I leaned over the stewpot and laughed into the fragrant steam. “When did we start eating like peasants?” It wasn’t a complaint, but a cheeky observation on our evolving household diet. Five years ago I rarely made soup unless someone was ill, and then it came from a can. Now the remains of a rotisserie … More Seeds of Change: Cultivating a Sustainable Food System

A snowy landscape, with an inky stream winding away through white marshland towards a mountainous horizon.

A World Without Winter: New Projections for Climate Change in the Arctic

January 10, 2024

Only one thing scared me about moving to Alaska six months ago. Not the remoteness. Australia got me hooked on wild environments with more nature than civilization, so this was actually a selling point. Not the wildlife. While moose and bears can be aggressive, photography has taught me to keep a respectful distance (and a … More A World Without Winter: New Projections for Climate Change in the Arctic

An older woman's hand supports a young girl's, which cradles a small translucent shrimp.

A Cornucopia of Dystopia: Thanksgiving in the Anthropocene

December 11, 2023

Living in Australia had gotten me and my Laddie off the hook for Thanksgiving travel since 2019, and we expected our recent relocation to Alaska would extend the streak. Then he wound up on a November business trip back to our native mid-Atlantic. With people we hadn’t seen in three years conveniently congregating for the … More A Cornucopia of Dystopia: Thanksgiving in the Anthropocene