From CBS News national correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti, a “vivid” (Elizabeth Kolbert, Pulitzer Prize–winning author) and “stunning” (Booklist) character-driven call to action on our climate, told through the stories of the pioneering Americans working to persevere as leadership inaction risks the very survival of our heartland and hometowns.

Discussion of the climate crisis has always suffered from a problem of abstraction. Data points and warnings of an overheated future struggle to break through the noise of everyday life. Deniers often portray climate solutions as inconvenient, expensive, and unnecessary. And many politicians, cloistered by status and focused always on their next election, do not yet see climate as a winning issue in the short run, so they don’t take any action at all. But climate change, and its devastating consequences, has kept apace whether we want to pay attention or not.

CBS News national correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti has seen that crisis unfold for himself, spending nearly two decades reporting across the United States (and the world) documenting the people, communities, landmarks, and traditions we’ve already surrendered. Vigliotti shares with urgency and personal touch the story of an America on the brink.