After the Ice: Life, Death, and Geopolitics in the New Arctic [Hardcover]

Alun Anderson (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 1, 2009

New from Smithsonian Books, After the Ice is an eye-opening look at the winners and losers in the high-stakes story of Arctic transformation, from nations to native peoples to animals and the very landscape itself. Author Alun Anderson explores the effects of global warming amid new geopolitical rivalries, combining science, business, politics, and adventure to provide a fascinating narrative portrait of this rapidly changing land of unparalleled global significance.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

For decades, scientists knew that the Arctic's summer ice had been slowly shrinking, but they did not anticipate that "an enormous area" would suddenly melt away in 2007: "Explanations kept changing as the Arctic sprang new surprises." Global warming in itself was not a sufficient explanation, nor was "Arctic Oscillation," fluctuating wind patterns that create changes in atmospheric pressure. Searching for answers, Anderson, former editor-in-chief of New Scientist magazine, travelled extensively in the region-"Svalbard, Alaska, Norway, the Canadian Islands and both Coasts of Greenland"-checking out a hypothesis that the Oscillation had formed thinner surface layers, which melt more quickly. Satellite pictures, combined with underwater submarine probes, tracked the motion of the ice over several summers, allowing scientists to "follow areas of ice as they moved... and track which ice survived," chart the effects of salinity variations, and more. Anderson also meets members of the Inuit community, traditional hunter- trappers who share "troubled stories" of forced relocations, efforts to preserve self-rule, and adapting to the realities of climate change. In this fascinating, insightful overview, Anderson asserts that the days of the "iconic big beasts of the Arctic" are numbered, but remains hopeful about the Arctic's uncertain future.
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From Booklist

Anderson, a biologist and former editor in chief for New Scientist, was thrilled to see his first polar bear on his first trip to the High Arctic, until a colleague pointed out that the bear was starving to death. Endangered polar bears are emblematic of the drastic changes under way in the Arctic, but there are many more stories to tell about this land in flux. Anderson traveled far and wide, speaking with reindeer herders, hunters, and dozens of experts in diverse fields, piecing together the most panoramic picture yet of this crucial region. Delving into Arctic history, he offers fresh insights into the traditions of indigenous people and the consequences of Arctic exploration, colonization, exploitation, and pollution; and he is equally adept at parsing the growing international scramble for the Arctic’s oil, gas, and minerals. With measurements from satellites and submarines quantifying the rapid shrinking of Arctic ice, Anderson joins the call to reduce carbon emissions to slow global warming. Inquisitive, cogent, and compelling, Anderson shares his findings, concerns, and fascination with this vulnerable “place of profound and diverse beauty.” --Donna Seaman

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Smithsonian; 1 edition (December 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061579076
• ISBN-13: 978-0061579073
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,067,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Action in the Arctic December 18, 2009

By Pamela Robinson

Format:Hardcover

Alun Anderson has gone several steps beyond just complaining about or mourning the changing climate in the Arctic in his book, "After the Ice: Life, Death, and Geopolitics in the New Arctic."

He tells us in well-documented form that while the rest of the world might get exercised about the occasional polar bear, there are serious developments involving control, industrialization, oil drilling, ethnic issues and much more, related to the changes occurring in the frozen North. What we don't see because it is so far out of our view is the international struggle to control its future because so much of the rapidly fading past is lost for good. Anderson has spent much time watching developments, interviewing experts on site, and witnessing the loss of habitat and displacement of people. For those who are worried about the seas rising because of melting ice or the loss of ice-packed beautiful scenery, Anderson acknowledges those concerns but notes that events are rapidly moving ahead of those obvious issues. As the ice thins and then disappears, new sea routes are opening, setting off struggles among Greenland, Canada, the United States, Russia Norway and others, all of whom want to control the area and have access to its natural resources.

For those most concerned about the damage to native seal, walrus and polar bear populations, this well-written book offers plenty of heartbreaking material as he quotes people who witnessed starving bears, walrus stampedes and the changes in human culture. But everything he writes is buttressed by charts, documented by scientists, in many cases, for decades.

Deniers of the human factor in global climate change won't be swayed by these facts either but everyone else will rightly be concerned by what is going on and who is determining the future of such a vast and important part of the globe.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars After the Ice: Life, Death, and Geopolitics in the New Arctic March 17, 2011

By C. Richard Byers

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

After the Ice is a wake-up call. The prediction that the summer ice in the Arctic will be gone by 2100 is wrong. New convincing evidence rolls the prediction backward. It will come much earlier - with dates ranging from 2016 to 2045. The summer ice is melting from beneath, by warm temperate ocean waters being transported to the Arctic and by air pollution, not global warming, from above. It answered my questions as to why the entire Arctic and Greenland is melting fast while only the west side of the Antarctic ice is disappearing. What's scary is what will happen when the summer ice is gone and the Arctic starts absorbing heat instead of reflecting it? Will the planet thermometer make a sudden jump? Nearly all the documented information is in stark contrast to what certain politicians and certain news agencies would have us believe. Alun Anderson did a marvelous job in his two years of traveling throughout the Arctic talking to scientists, nuclear submarine captains, and the inhabitants. His sources are many, from the 1800's to the present, all listed, a real eye opening peek into a rapidly changing Arctic with effects that will be felt worldwide.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth Reading, and Rereading February 3, 2011

By Lenny

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I give most books away after I read them. This is one of those few books I kept for future reference. It's packed with interesting, scientific & analytic information about what is happening in the Artic, and what will happen in the coming years along with the implications for us all. It doesn't pontificate; it informs. I like that.