Jon Waterman presents new book in Carbondale on Friday

Carbondale author Jon Waterman will present his newest book “Into the Thaw: Witnessing Wonder Amid the Arctic Climate Crisis” at 7 p.m. Friday at Third Street Center. 

Waterman is a former national park ranger and award-winning author/photographer renowned for his immersive explorations of wilderness and environmental issues. With a prolific body of work encompassing 17 books and five films, including ESPN’s Emmy-winning “Surviving Denali” and National Geographic’s “Atlas of Wild America” and “Atlas of the National Parks,” Waterman has earned acclaim for his deep connection to nature and his ability to inspire readers to protect the planet’s natural wonders. His wide-ranging expeditions include a first winter ascent of Denali’s Cassin Ridge, kayaking North America’s Northwest Passage, dogsledding up Canada’s Mount Logan, sailing to Hawaii, and boating the Colorado River from source to sea.

He says “Into the Thaw” is his most important work yet.

The book alternates between adventure and wilderness memoir, side-noted with scholarly research into climate change and natural history. Waterman recounts encounters with bears, enduring weeks alone amid swarms of mosquitoes, and witnessing phenomena like the greening of the Arctic, teardrop-shaped landslides (thermokarsts) caused by thawing permafrost, and an increasing loss of sea ice as he travels along the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. The book features stunning color photographs and detailed maps. Complimentary reader’s and teacher’s guides, as well as an interactive story map, will be available at Patagonia.com.

Waterman not only shows how climate change has impacted the land, sea, and animals, but also the kindhearted, welcoming Inuit people. Most affected by a crisis that has heated the Arctic several times faster than the rest of the world, the ever-resilient villagers share how their age-old culture has attempted to cope with “the thaw.” He paints an intimate portrait of both the Inuit and the little-visited North — with its treasured parklands — because “it’s high time that we truly understand the Arctic,” he writes, “lest we forget what it once was.”  

Despite the unfolding climate crisis, “Into the Thaw” is a book about wonder — and through one man’s life-changing experiences in the wilderness — the narrative ends with a message of hope, urging actionable steps to mitigate further thawing and preserve the Arctic’s extraordinary biodiversity and cultural heritage.