The message from the world’s top scientific body on climate change, the IPCC, earlier this month was grim but emphatic. The world has little over a decade to keep global warming in check and avert an environmental disaster that would make living in many parts of the earth intolerable.

But are Americans, the second largest producers of carbon dioxide in the world, listening?

They should be. As Fairbanks-based researcher Nancy Fresco puts it, “For everyone from the National Park Service to the military, from the oil industry to city managers to traditional hunters, adapting to climate change is the new reality in Alaska.” And across the U.S., rising temperatures are already affecting Americans’ health and bringing mosquitoes and ticks carrying diseases like dengue fever and the Zika virus to suburban backyards.

These are urgent issues that affect us all. This is why Conversation editors coalesced around the idea of devoting a special newsletter tapping the work of scholars who study the many aspects of climate change – from how it’s already affecting us on the ground to how it’s taught (or not) in high school and the role insurance costs may play in changing hearts and minds.

This week also marks the fourth birthday of The Conversation US. From humble beginnings with a newsroom of seven in a basement at Boston University, we are now a newsroom of 19 spread across five cities. For me as editor, these four years have been an exciting and deeply gratifying experience – as we’ve worked with thousands of academics to share their expertise and insight with the public and seen an ever-growing readership for our unique model of evidence-based, trustworthy journalism.

Today’s offering exemplifies what The Conversation is all about. You’ll be hearing from the experts – people who’ve spent years if not decades researching their topics. The stories they author are distinctive and some are counterintuitive. All of them are underpinned by evidence you can check out yourself. And each and every one of these articles goes through a rigorous editing process that includes transparency about any relevant funding or non-academic affiliations.

I hope you will find today’s reading stimulating and useful – as always, we welcome your feedback.