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“Here's the playbook for the years ahead: loving but savvy, with open eyes and with
open heart, Amy Seidl talks us through the possibilities we have on the planet we've
created. A landmark book.”
—Bill McKibben, Founder 350.org, author of
Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet
“Seidl's glass-half-full optimism is a welcome change from the many fatalistic
prognostications of the future.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Seidl (Early Spring) transcends wrangling about the reality of climate change by focusing
on those already adapting to shifts in temperature: flora, fauna, and farmers…Seidl
optimistically proposes that humans might also evolve as we adapt, extending our
empathy to nonhuman life vulnerable to climate change
—Publishers Weekly
Finding Higher Ground:
Adaptation in the Age of Warming
By
Amy Seidl
Publication Date: June 7, 2011
Finding Higher Ground: Adaptation in the Age of Warming, by Amy Seidl, confronts the
growing fatalism of climate science with pragmatic thinking and optimistic opportunities for
change. Seidl acknowledges the importance of taking steps towards reversing the causes of global
warming, such as carbon mitigation, but takes the conversation a step further by looking for ways
to help the planet survive the changes it will inevitably face. “While mitigating climate change is
essential,” she writes, “adapting to and through centuries of warming is paramount.”
Even if carbon emissions were cut to zero tomorrow, the effects of climate change in the natural
world would have consequences for centuries to come. In Finding Higher Ground, Seidl
examines how human and nonhuman life is adapting to the changes that have already been set in
motion. Drawing on observations from natural science, sociology, and real community responses,
she explores the way that living systems are adapting biologically, ecologically, and culturally,
and looks at what human communities and natural ecosystems will need to do in order to survive.
In nature, signs of adaptation can already be seen and Seidl sites many examples from the natural
world she writes about:
 changing migratory patterns for animals such as the Brown Pelicans, Snow Geese, and
butterflies
 delayed reproductive cycles in insects and animals, such as the pitcher plant mosquito and
red squirrel, who are each birthing earlier to take advantage of new temperature regimes
—OVER—

altered growing seasons seen in plants such as the mizuna plant, which has evolved to
survive extreme drought
In addition to the changes taking place for plants and animals, Seidl reports than in 2007 twenty
million human environmental émigrés fled unsuitable environmental conditions in
their homelands, outnumbering, for the first time, refugees fleeing from war. Floods, hurricanes,
and droughts associated with climate change are often to blame, though climate change’s effect
on agriculture is also a large part of the problem. Seidl writes that “as the planet warms and
oceans heat up the hydroelectric cycle will accelerate” which will change the growing season in
many areas. Discussing the importance of adapting to these new conditions, globally, she sites
examples of how farmers, especially on small farms, are reacting. She tells the story of Ben, a
former student of Seild’s who became a homesteader and began experimenting with “wholesystems design” to cultivate crop diversity. In one example of adapting to the new conditions,
Ben planted a rice paddy to take advantage of Vermont’s increasing average rain fall.
Seidl writes that, “While twenty-first century technologies will play a role in how agriculture
adapts to the Age of Warming, traditional farming practices may be more lasting.” Based on the
changing practices of farmers today, Seidl notes the following adaptive measures that can be
taken to improve the success rates for agriculture:
 ecological design for farm buildings and materials
 cultivating crop diversity
 using gene sequencing when producing seeds, to create “climate ready” crops
 composting to restore depleted soil
 water management to help sustain plants through the changing precipitation patterns
In addition to large adaptive measures that Seidl believes should be taken, she also writes about
“no-regrets strategies,” that can and should be implemented for the benefit of society, even if
their impact may seem small. “Climate science is entering unknown territory,” she writes.
“Anticipating the Earth’s climate over the next one hundred years is daunting, even to
climatologists.” These “no-regrets strategies,” which offer benefits regardless of what the next
century may bring, include:
 tackling inefficiencies in infrastructure, from water leaks to non energy-efficient
appliances
 the restoration of riparian areas, such as the wetlands, which provide habitats for plants
and animals and absorb excess water that may result from extreme weather
 restricting new homebuilding from floodplains
 incorporating extra safety margins into future community planning
Another necessary cultural adaptive strategy that Seidl writes about is the need to proactively
eliminate dependence on fossil fuels. She details the work being done in some communities such
as Greenberg, Kansas, where the town, after being divested by a tornado in 2007 decided to
rebuild through ecological design, and Lavasa, India, where the architectural firm HOK is
designing an eight thousand-acre city using green, sustainable practices. Seidl also discusses the
work she’s done in her own home, from installing solar panels and rain barrels to tending an
organic garden. Acknowledging that many of the changes she’s made means that she sometimes
has to forgo comfort and convenience, she writes that these changes are a necessity. As climate
change continues to alter the landscape, self reliance, she notes, will become more important than
ever.
Finding Higher Ground evaluates the current climatology and introduces proactive solutions to
the planet’s oncoming changes. The book combines accessible and in-depth science with the
author’s personal narrative about the warming world. By looking at adaptation in the natural
world, Seidl addresses what can and should be done in human society in order to help ensure
continued existence. Adaptation, she writes, will be essential to the survival of all species.
Humans have successfully adapted to extreme changes before, and Seidl believes they can do it
again. In the new Age of Warming, Seidl writes, “higher ground is ours to find.”
****
About the author:
Amy Seidl is an ecologist, author, and teacher who has taught in the Environmental Studies Programs at Middlebury
College and the University of Vermont, and is currently a Research Scholar at Middlebury. She is the author of Early
Spring: An Ecologist and Her Children Wake to a Warming World and was the host of the awarding winning Emerging
Science on Vermont Public Television.
Finding Higher Ground
Amy Seidl
June 6, 2011
Nature
$24.95 Hardcover
978-0-8070-8598-1 E-book: 978-8070-8599-8