American Scientist

Spring is in full swing. And although certain parts of the United States have emerged from a particularly snowy season, other regions have endured quite a warm winter. According to the National Climatic Data Center, the period from December 2014 to January 2015 was the sixth warmest recorded in the contiguous 48 states since 1895; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reports that the period from December 2014 to February 2015 marks the warmest winter on record worldwide. Like it or not, the persistent higher temperatures associated with global warming have become our new normal.

We are now advancing into a geologic era defined by the environmental effects of human activities, named the Anthropocene. Our energy system appears to have put us on a course toward a permanently warmer planet, with uncertain consequences—that is, unless we make some dramatic changes. As in an old Choose Your Own Adventure novel, the decisions we make on issues such as energy and agriculture will determine the outcome of our story. We’ll need access to reliable information to make prudent choices between often-conflicting options.

Our goal at American Scientist is to be a source of exactly that kind of information. In this issue, while maintaining our traditional far-ranging perspective on scientific research, we feature several articles that offer new views on the way that humans are affecting the natural world. Justin Yeakel and Jennifer Dunne show that both human and nonhuman influences increase the susceptibility of modern animal populations to "domino effect" extinctions, in "Modern Lessons from Ancient Food Webs"; Richard Pell and Lauren Allen explain the role museums can play in enabling conversations about how people shape the living world around them, in the Arts Lab column, "Bringing Postnatural History into View"; and in the Perspective column, "How Can Art Move Us Beyond Eco-Despair?" Robert Chianese explores ways to alleviate the social tensions and emotional gloom triggered by climate change. Taken together, these articles are intended to guide the discussions that will influence the storyline of the Anthropocene.

We invite you to continue to explore these and other topics through our new collection of blogs featured on the American Scientist website. When you visit AmSci Blogs, you’ll discover four current blogs presenting unique editorial perspectives.

Macroscope: Readers and contributors from different fields connect and discuss emerging issues.

The Long View: American Scientist authors update their findings with the latest data.

Science Culture: Staff and contributors muse about interactions between science and technology and other disciplines, including pop culture and entertainment.

From the Staff: American Scientist editors discuss what’s on our radar.

We hope you will find this new venue to be lively and engaging and will join in by sharing your own thoughts. We would love for you to be a part of the conversation. — Jamie L. Vernon (@JLVernonPhD)