A Farewell to Ice: A Report from the Arctic

(Paperback)

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Description

The most authoritative account yet of what is happening in the Arctic - the 'canary in the mine' of planetary change Peter Wadhams has visited the Polar Regions more often than any other living scientist and, from his observations and the latest scientific research, describes how dramatically sea ice has diminished over the past three decades. He shows how it is the 'canary in the mine' of planetary climate change, describing the vital role ice plays in reflecting solar heat back into space and providing an 'air conditioning' system for the planet. He demonstrates how a series of rapid feedbacks in the Arctic are accelerating change there more rapidly than almost all scientists (and political authorities) have realised, and the dangers of further acceleration are very real. A Farewell to Ice is a report from the frontline of planetary change in the Arctic and Antarctic by a leading authority. It is one of the most important books published in recent years about the existential challenge which human civilization now faces.

Reviews

Wadhams's particular combination - of scientific passion, a lyrical sense of wonder at the natural world, an ability to pluck clear analogies from the air, and outspoken analysis of consumer-capitalist politics - marks out A Farewell to Ice as essential reading. -- John Burnside * New Statesman *
A passionate, authoritative overview of the role of ice in our climate system, past, present and, scarily, the future. -- Carl Wunsch, Professor Emeritus of Physical Oceanography, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Author Bio

Peter Wadhams is the UK's most experienced sea ice scientist. He was Director of the Scott Polar Institute in Cambridge 1987-92 and Professor of Ocean Physics at Cambridge 1992-2015. He has made more than 50 expeditions to both polar regions, working from ice camps, icebreakers, aircraft, and, uniquely, submarines. His has been awarded the W.S. Bruce Prize of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1977), the UK Polar Medal (1987) and the Italgas Prize for Environmental Sciences (1990). He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Member of the Finnish Academy.