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, an investigator at the �ֲ���ý-led  long-term research site, contributed to this article.

Record-breaking heat waves and drought have left West Coast rivers lethally hot for salmon, literally  in their shells and left . The extraordinary severity of 2021’s heat and drought, and its  and , has many people questioning whether climate change, fueled by human actions, is progressing even faster than studies have predicted and what that means for the future.

As ecologists, we have watched climate change play out over decades at long-term research sites in forests, fields and coastal areas across the U.S.

A recent  in the journal Ecosphere presents more than 25 case studies from these sites, providing a unique perspective on the changes underway and what’s likely ahead as the planet continues to warm.

Here are snapshots of what we’re seeing firsthand in the National Science Foundation’s Long-Term Ecological Research Network sites, from the effect of increasing fires in Oregon’s Cascades to shifting marine life off the coast of Maine, and surprising resilience in Baltimore’s urban forests.

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