Telling the human stories behind climate change: Adam Weymouth
Telling the human stories behind climate change: Adam Weymouth
Author
Introduction
Those living in poorer communities around the world are facing the brunt of the climate crisis, experiencing food insecurity, loss of livelihoods and forced migration, according to research. For years, the stories of these communities have not been told.
"The Fellowship was integral in my becoming a writer, and in changing how I look at the world." - Adam Weymouth, Fellow
Writer Adam Weymouth (CF 2013) has spent the last eight years uncovering their stories to help raise awareness of the global effects of climate change, and the shared responsibility the UK has in tackling this crisis. His Fellowship in 2013 took him to Alaska to research the devastating effects that global warming was having on indigenous communities. On his return, he wrote an article for The Atlantic, describing the plight of Alaskan fishermen who are dependent on salmon for their food and income but are no longer able to fish due to declining salmon numbers and increasing restrictions on fishing. This received considerable attention and led to a commission from Penguin Books.
In 2018, Adam published Kings of the Yukon to critical acclaim, winning the Sunday Times 2018 Young Writer of the Year award and the 2019 Lonely Planet Adventure Book of the Year award. Published in the UK, France, Canada, Holland and the USA, the book has helped to raise awareness of the global impact of climate change on communities living along Alaska’s Yukon River, and fed into a wider movement to bring local and indigenous voices into fisheries management.
More recently, Adam has turned his attention to writing about the impact of nature degradation on local communities in the UK. In a recent article published in Granta Magazine, he wrote about the loss of wild salmon from UK waters, historically some of the richest in the world, due to deforestation and salmon farming, and the effect this has had on the livelihoods of local fishermen here.
Adam’s Fellowship to the USA looked at the human stories behind the rapidly changing Arctic.
Adam says, “Being given the Fellowship came at the perfect time, and I'm so grateful for how it shaped me. It was integral in my becoming a writer, and in changing how I look at the world.”
"The Fellowship was integral in my becoming a writer, and in changing how I look at the world." - Adam Weymouth, Fellow
Writer Adam Weymouth (CF 2013) has spent the last eight years uncovering their stories to help raise awareness of the global effects of climate change, and the shared responsibility the UK has in tackling this crisis. His Fellowship in 2013 took him to Alaska to research the devastating effects that global warming was having on indigenous communities. On his return, he wrote an article for The Atlantic, describing the plight of Alaskan fishermen who are dependent on salmon for their food and income but are no longer able to fish due to declining salmon numbers and increasing restrictions on fishing. This received considerable attention and led to a commission from Penguin Books.
In 2018, Adam published Kings of the Yukon to critical acclaim, winning the Sunday Times 2018 Young Writer of the Year award and the 2019 Lonely Planet Adventure Book of the Year award. Published in the UK, France, Canada, Holland and the USA, the book has helped to raise awareness of the global impact of climate change on communities living along Alaska’s Yukon River, and fed into a wider movement to bring local and indigenous voices into fisheries management.
More recently, Adam has turned his attention to writing about the impact of nature degradation on local communities in the UK. In a recent article published in Granta Magazine, he wrote about the loss of wild salmon from UK waters, historically some of the richest in the world, due to deforestation and salmon farming, and the effect this has had on the livelihoods of local fishermen here.
Adam’s Fellowship to the USA looked at the human stories behind the rapidly changing Arctic.
Adam says, “Being given the Fellowship came at the perfect time, and I'm so grateful for how it shaped me. It was integral in my becoming a writer, and in changing how I look at the world.”