A farewell to ice : a report from the Arctic /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Wadhams, P., author.
Imprint:New York, NY, United States of America : Oxford University Press, [2017]
Description:xv, 240 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 21 cm
Language:English
Subject:Sea ice -- Arctic regions.
Ice -- Arctic regions.
Climatic changes -- Arctic regions.
Climatic changes.
Ecology.
Ice.
Sea ice.
Arctic regions -- Environmental conditions.
Arctic Regions.
Format: Print Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11331765
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:9780190691158
0190691158
Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages 207-219) and index.
Review by Choice Review

Starting as a scientific monograph, this book incorporates a professional memoir and then becomes polemic. Having developed his expertise through years of field research, Wadhams (ocean physics, Univ. of Cambridge, UK) introduces readers to sea ice and its crucial role in climate. We learn why methane release is the most imminent threat to climate stability. He explains the nine feedback loops that push Earth closer to a point beyond which warming cannot be slowed. Melting of sea ice is tied to the increasing risk of disruption to the global thermohaline circulation system. He differentiates contemporary circumstances from the earliest glacial events ("Snowball Earth") and the subsequent glacial cycles influenced by astronomical changes. Wadhams is incensed that computer-based models appear to be more credible than observational data. He complains about the conservative models used by scientific bodies and governments to perpetuate the idea that there is still time to slow warming by reducing CO emissions. The author predicts that without intervention, the Earth could become uninhabitable in 100 years. He endorses immediate research and development of geoengineering techniques to "reflect sunlight back into space," as well as technology that can "remove CO from the atmosphere." In general, this book offers important information for a large audience. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. --Louise S. Zipp, formerly, State University of New York College at Geneseo

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Wadhams, professor of ocean physics at Cambridge University, explains the loss of Arctic ice in this important, if dense, discussion on the effects of climate change. In the 1970s, sea ice covered roughly eight million square kilometers of the surface of the Arctic Ocean. But by 2012 it only covered approximately 3.4 million square kilometers. Wadhams outlines the hows and whys of this dramatic change, looking at the greenhouse effect and increasing atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Methane derives from a number of sources, including natural gas-pipeline leaks, hydraulic fracturing, agriculture, and landfills; nitrous oxide "originates mostly from the use of artificial fertilizers." Wadhams also details the phenomenon of Arctic amplification-"the main reason why changes due to global warming happen in the Arctic first"-and its causes. Unfortunately, the book's early chapters on "the properties of sea ice and how it forms and grows on the sea surface" and on glaciers and ice sheets prove difficult to get through. Too academic and dry, they can be hard for general audiences to decipher. Wadhams's in-depth scientific examination undoubtedly adds to the ongoing study of polar ice caps, but his tone and approach may limit the book's overall appeal. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Review by Library Journal Review

Is the ice within glaciers melting so quickly that it could disappear entirely in the coming years? As a polar researcher for almost five decades, Wadham (head, Polar Ocean Physics Group, Cambridge Univ.) has documented the changes in ice since 1970. His research in the Arctic specifically explains the dramatic ice decreases during this time, and his experience and expertise creates a completely enthralling nonfiction text. Besides the obvious change in the water, -Wadham describes other challenges that stem from melting glaciers, such as methane being released into the atmosphere and the importance of the sun's radiation reflecting off the ice, expertly translating scientific research into everyday terms. VERDICT While Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction focuses more holistically on all aspects of climate change, Wadhams's book concentrates on its global and lasting effects, offering readers a successful examination.-Teri Davis, Council Bluffs, IA © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Choice Review


Review by Publisher's Weekly Review


Review by Library Journal Review