Press Release

September 22, 2022

Probable Futures Releases Third and Final Volume: Land

New Maps and Stories Illustrate Impacts of Climate Instability in Vivid Detail

BOSTON – Probable Futures today released its Land volume, the third and final installment of their digital exploration of the urgent and growing challenges posed by climate instability. Building on the compelling story told through Heat and Water, the Land volume unpacks the complex relationship between land and climate and how the actions and decisions of humans create a ripple effect that is felt by animals, plants, insects, and organisms.

“While the site will continue to evolve, this third set of stories and maps completes the journey we envisioned at the outset to reframe the conversation on climate and give people the tools and resources they need to build climate literacy and resiliency,” said Alison Smart, Executive Director of Probable Futures. “There is a range of probable futures that await us, depending on our actions and leadership—or lack thereof—and we need to prepare for the likely ones and avoid the ones that carry the most extreme risks.”

Throughout the Probable Futures site, users will find both data and storytelling. The platform combines curated narratives of climate impacts worldwide with well established data supported by the experienced team of scientists at the Woodwell Climate Research Center. The global maps visualize predictive modeling on heat, drought, and precipitation.

Taken together, the three dimensions of climate instability paint a vivid and personal picture of how our backyards—and the entire world—are rapidly changing.

“It’s up to each of us to reimagine how we see, talk about, and interact with the physical world for the future of our planet,” said Spencer Glendon, Founder of Probable Futures. “This past season has been filled with the kinds of catastrophic climate events that climate science foretold, from flooding in Pakistan and Mississippi to severe drought on multiple continents. We hope people can see how critical it is for everyone to develop and live with climate awareness so we can change our behaviors and find ways to live well within the constraints that our Earth and its systems have given us.”

Also new to the platform is a primer on risk-thinking and a video to make more vivid the history and trajectory of climate instability.