Facing Climate Change tells the story of global climate change through people who live and work in the Pacific Northwest. From wildfire fighters and potato farmers, to coastal tribes, kids with asthma and shellfish growers, people throughout this region must confront and adapt to the consequences of warming. Their unique stories about who they are and what they do, their everyday challenges and long-term ambitions help to make an abstract issue more accessible to local audiences, while also contributing to a global conversation.

These four films are based on research from the Washington Climate Change Impacts Assessment, a 400-page scientific report by the Climate Impacts Group at the University of Washington. We wanted to make this information more accessible by putting a face to these projections and bringing more voices into the conversation. In addition to the films, we also distributed this work through exhibits and presentations.

We’d particularly like to thank the following advisors from our partner organizations: Lara Whitely Binder, Janice Adair, Spencer Reeder, Eric de Place and Jen Marlow. Major funding was provided by Nau’s Grant for Change, The Kongsgaard-Goldman Foundation and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. We also received invaluable support from friends and family. And Blue Earth was our fiscal sponsor.

Facing Climate Change began with a series of stories about Sámi reindeer herders in Norway, volunteer glacier monitors from Iceland and fishermen of the North Atlantic.