ALASKA

Alaskans haven't always mowed their lawns in November and golfed in February. This report from The Christian Science Monitor explains how greater warmth all year round is already affecting not just the oil industry, but landscape, wildlife, and native Alaskan life ways as well. Read more.

Natives of the Alaskan interior say winter isn't what it used to be. This article published by the National Parks Conservation Association explores the many ways in which Alaska is the "canary in the coalmine" for global warming. Read more.

Long frigid winters once kept pests that prey on trees in check and kept forests healthy. No longer, according to this report from USA Today. This report includes video. Read more.

Alan Alda visits steamy Alaska in this episode of PBS's Scientific American Frontiers. The Web site includes video and a feature that explains why Alaska's landscape is particularly vulnerable to spikes in heat. Read more.

In July of this year, Inuit from around the polar circle met in Alaska to discuss how global warming threatens their traditional hunting culture and to advocate for international action. NPR's Alex Chadwick talks with Sheila Watt Cloutier, chairwoman of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference. Read more.

Western U.S/Wildfires

UC San Diego researchers contributed to a paper in Science arguing that after 1987 wildfires grew dramatically in size and number, as reported in this article in USA Today. Read more.

Anthony Westerling of UC San Diego and UC Merced joins NPR's Talk of the Nation to discuss his landmark research on forest fires. Read more.

Read Westerling et alia's original paper, published in Science in July 2006. Read more.

California

What's at stake for California? Just life as we know it. Read about how global warming will affect everything from blueberries and wine, to disease (beware West Nile!) and even your own backyard. Read more.