The decade from 1979 to 1989 critical for climate action. By the mid-1980s, the scientific community understood with unprecedented clarity that human activity was contributing to a rapid derangement of the natural world, one that would threaten economic and societal collapse if left unchecked. But efforts to marshal the political will and industry support to change course failed. Stunning aerial photography by George Steinmetz, taken over the past year, reveals some of the damage already done, while underscoring what remains at stake. Steinmetz combined his work with extensive reporting by Nathaniel Rich supported by the Pulitzer Center that took up an entire edition of The New York Times Magazine in August 2018.