McKibben began his freelance writing career at about the same time that climate change appeared on the public agenda following the hot summer and fires of 1988 and testimony by James Hansen before the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in June of that year . His first contribution to the debate was a brief list of literature on the subject and commentary published December 1988 in The New York Review of Books and a question , " Is the World Getting Hotter ? " He became and remains a frequent contributor to various publications , including '' The New York Times '' , '' The Atlantic '' , '' Harper 's '' , '' Orion '' , '' Mother Jones '' , '' The American Prospect '' , '' The New York Review of Books '' , '' Granta '' , '' National Geographic '' , '' Rolling Stone '' , '' Adbusters , '' and '' Outside '' . He is also a board member at and contributor to '' Grist ''
fires of 1988
Yellowstone fires of 1988
Bill McKibben