Storms 2021 | Mitch Dobrowner

The adrenaline of seeing Mother Nature during some of her finest moments will be ingrained in me forever. It is a humbling experience - and I feel fortunate to have witnessed her power and grandeur over the past 12 years. My experiences are hard to describe in words.

During this recent trip (July 2021) we traveled over 6400 miles in 10 days crossing thru 10 different states - all in my quest/passion to photograph these storm systems. But this time the events of the last year made me more aware, opened my eyes wider and had a different effect on me. The effects of Climate Change have become obvious.

The current patterns are changing and they are accelerating faster then anyone realized or predicted. Just over the past decade the characteristics of the Jet Stream and the Gulf Stream have changed. Pandemics, droughts, devastating heatwaves, wildfires, massive floods, rising oceans are accelerating. As I sit here in my house in Lone Pine, CA in 103 degree heat I can hardly see the outlines of Lone Pine Peak and Mount Whitney as they are shrouded in smoke-filled skies from the wildfires in Northern California and Nevada.

Humankind needs to figure out a way to live in harmony with the Earth. If not for us, for the future generations. This planet has existed for billions of years... and its climate is fragile but also more powerful than we can ever imagine. If humanity cannot figure out how to respect planet Earth, the planet will figure it out for us, and the end result will be devastating. It's already starting to happen. —- Mitch Dobrowner