Want a NOOK? Explore Now
A cowinner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize offers a clear-eyed explanation of the planet's imperiled ice.
Much has been written about global warming, but the crucial relationship between people and ice has received little focus-until now. As one of the world's leading experts on climate change, Henry Pollack provides an accessible, comprehensive survey of ice as a force of nature and the potential consequences as we face the possibility of a world without ice.
A World Without Ice traces the effect of mountain glaciers on supplies of drinking water and agricultural irrigation, as well as the current results of melting permafrost and shrinking Arctic sea ice-a situation that has degraded the habitat of numerous animals and sparked an international race for seabed oil and minerals. Catastrophic possibilities loom, including rising sea levels and subsequent flooding of low-lying regions worldwide. A World Without Ice answers our most urgent questions about this pending crisis, laying out the necessary steps for managing the unavoidable and avoiding the unmanageable.
Foreword Al Gore vi
Preface x
Chapter 1 Discovering Ice 1
Chapter 2 Ice And Life: On Earth and Beyond 35
Chapter 3 When Ice Ruled the World 67
Chapter 4 Warming Up 97
Chapter 5 Nature at Work 133
Chapter 6 Human Footprints 151
Chapter 7 Melting Ice, Rising Seas 191
Chapter 8 Choices Amid Change 231
Afterword 276
Acknowledgments 281
Index 284
BillPilgrim
Posted May 14, 2010
Dr. Pollack is Professor of Geophysics at the University of Michigan, a member of the IPCC and an advisor to Al Gore's Climate Project. In this book he presents a concise and easy to understand explanation of the many forces that are at work on Earth that are causing global warming. He cautions that we have little time left to make changes in human activities to avoid the worst possible catastrophes that are inevitable if we simply continue on our current course. But, there is still time to make a difference.
I have had an interest in this subject for a long time, and there is a lot in this book that I was already aware of. But, there is also a huge amount of information that I had not yet come across and that was completely new to me. Despite the wealth of facts included, I am still left with many questions about the causes and particularly the effects of global warming.
Anyone who needs ammunition to use in discussions with deniers of climate change, or deniers of the effect of human activity on climate change, should read this book. The case he makes is compelling and hard to dispute.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted January 1, 2010
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted May 5, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted August 25, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Overview
A cowinner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize offers a clear-eyed explanation of the planet's imperiled ice.
Much has been written about global warming, but the crucial relationship between people and ice has received little focus-until now. As one of the world's leading experts on climate change, Henry Pollack provides an accessible, comprehensive survey of ice as a force of nature and the potential consequences as we face the possibility of a ...