Ice Rivers: A Story of Glaciers, Wilderness, and Humanity

by Jemma Wadham

Overview

A passionate eyewitness account of the mysteries and looming demise of glaciers—and what their fate means for our shared future

The ice sheets and glaciers that cover one-tenth of Earth's land surface are in grave peril. High in the Alps, Andes, and Himalaya, once-indomitable glaciers are retreating, even dying. Meanwhile, in Antarctica, thinning glaciers may be unlocking vast quantities of methane stored for millions of years beneath the ice. In Ice Rivers, renowned glaciologist Jemma Wadham offers a searing personal account of glaciers and the rapidly unfolding crisis that they—and we—face.

Taking readers on a personal journey from Europe and Asia to Antarctica and South America, Wadham introduces majestic glaciers around the globe as individuals—even friends—each with their own unique character and place in their community. She challenges their first appearance as silent, passive, and lifeless, and reveals that glaciers are, in fact, as alive as a forest or soil, teeming with microbial life and deeply connected to almost everything we know. They influence crucial systems on which people depend, from lucrative fisheries to fertile croplands, and represent some of the most sensitive and dynamic parts of our world. Their fate is inescapably entwined with our own, and unless we act to abate the greenhouse warming of our planet the potential consequences are almost unfathomable.

A riveting blend of cutting-edge research and tales of encounters with polar bears and survival under the midnight sun, Ice Rivers is an unforgettable portrait of—and love letter to—our vanishing icy wildernesses.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691241814
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	10/25/2022
Pages:	264
Sales rank:	316,287
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jemma Wadham is Professor of Glaciology at UiT the Arctic University of Norway, the Norwegian Polar Institute, and the University of Bristol. She has led more than twenty-five expeditions to glaciers around the world, from Greenland and Antarctica to the Peruvian Andes and the Himalaya. She has received prestigious awards for her research, including a Philip Leverhulme Prize and a Royal Society Wolfson Award.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Icy Beginnings ix

Part 1 The Smell of the Ice

1 Glimpses of an Underworld: The Swiss Alps 3

2 Bears, Bears Everywhere: Svalbard 29

Part 2 The Great Ice Sheets

3 Plumbing the Depths: Greenland 59

4 Life at the Extremes: Antarctica 86

Part 3 In The Shadow of Glaciers

5 Beware of the GLOF!: Patagonia 121

6 White Rivers Running Dry: The Indian Himalaya 146

7 The Last Ice: The Cordillera Blanca 169

Afterword: A Fork in the Path 190

A Glacial Glossary 193

Notes 199

Acknowledgements 219

Picture Credits 221

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Ice Rivers is a remarkable book. For those of us who have had the privilege of scrambling across glaciers around the world, this work will bring back sharp memories of their otherworldly beauty. For those who haven't, this is the perfect introduction into a crucial and vanishing part of our planet. Jemma Wadham works to understand, to bear witness, and to protect—it's hard to imagine a more fully human undertaking."—Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

Editorial Reviews

A Times and Sunday Times Best Science and Environment Book of the Year

A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year

From the Publisher