The following photos and excerpt -- highlighting the threats posed to animals and plants by climate change -- are drawn from Gary Braasch's new book Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming Is Changing the World, published by the University of California Press, © 2007. Featuring more than 100 photographs, Earth Under Fire shows species, cultures, and entire ecosystems at risk due to rapid climate change. It tells personal stories of the people whose lives are being disrupted, and delves into the larger implications for businesses, governments, and societies. Click arrows to advance images. Photos © Gary Braasch As the climate …

The scene is breathtaking, even mystical. Four searchlight beams arrow down from above me to a vanishing point over dark water. Sea fog sweeps in along the beams and occasionally an iceberg is illuminated. From the left, a small, pale full moon is just showing over the clouds. I am on the bridge of the National Science Foundation research icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer, approaching the Antarctic Circle along the Antarctic Peninsula. Our first location after crossing the Antarctic Circle is the face of Muller Ice Shelf, the most northerly shelf on the west side of the peninsula. The fjord is …