Planet Ice: A Climate for Change [Hardcover]

James Martin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2009

What the ice tells us about the past may help us understand the future of ice, and us, on Earth.

Planet Ice documents the beauty and the power of ice and its unique role in revealing the changing condition of the planet. Glaciers and ice fields are critical to the health of our world--and we are making them disappear.

Pairing the striking glacier photography of James Martin with essays by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, polar bear expert Ian Stirling, ice scientist Richard Alley, glaciologist Gino Casassa, and noted writers Gretel Ehrlich, Nick Jans, and Broughton Coburn, Planet Ice examines the characteristics of polar, mountain, and tropical ice. It also explores human concepts of ice and wilderness; the lives of penguins, polar bears, and other fauna that depend on ice; the far-reaching effects of climate change; and our responsibilities as stewards of the natural world. Yet this is not just a book of science. Together, these authors illuminate the profound connection between ice--a substance that is at once mutable and forceful--and the wellbeing of our global community.

*Photographer has spent 15 years documenting ice all over the world
*Book is part of a funded multi-media advocacy campaign
*Climate change and melting ice will remain front page news for years to come

Editorial Reviews

Review

Winner: 2009 ASLI (Atmospheric Science Librarians International) Choice award, for beautiful photography accompanied by thoughtful essays. --Atmospheric Science Libriarians International

About the Author

A trip leader for Joseph Van Os Photo Safaris, JAMES MARTIN has contributed to Outdoor Photographer magazine and has seventeen books to his credit. For this project, he ventured to Antarctica, Greenland, Baffin Island, the Alaska Range, Mount Everest, Patagonia, Mount Kilimanjaro, the Alps, the Canadian Rockies, Glacier National Park, Ecuador, Washington's Cascade Range, Alaska's North Slope, the Three Gorges in China's Yunnan Province, and more. He is represented by Getty Images.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 175 pages
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books (October 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594850852
• ISBN-13: 978-1594850851
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 11 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,311,479 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James Martin has written and photographed professionally since 1989 with articles and photographs appearing in Sports Illustrated, Summit, Smithsonian, Outside, Backpacker, Climbing, Outdoor and Travel Photography, Boys' Life, Ranger Rick, Outdoor Photographer, Destination, Blue, Audubon, and Rock & Ice.

He wrote Digital Photography Outdoors, 2nd edition (Mountaineer Books). He recently completed Planet Ice, a survey of ice that elucidates the relationship between climate and ice, and the action of ice on the landscape. In the course of shooting he hiked to Everest Base Camp, soloed across the Andes, climbed Kilimanjaro and the mountains of the moon, visited Greenland twice, and led trips to Antarctica. See www.planeticebook.com.

He wrote Masters of Disguise: the natural history of chameleons, the first comprehensive book on chameleons in English. Sasquatch Press published a series of his coffee table books on the mountains of the West, including The North Cascades Crest, Mount Rainier, and Sierra. Extreme Alpinism (Mountaineer Press), written and photographed with Mark Twight, concerns techniques for climbing and surviving the most difficult mountains. The book won the Outdoor Retailer Award and the Banff Mountain Festival Award in 1999.

He has written books for children on natural history, including Hiding Out: camouflage in the wild and Dragons in the Trees (both published by Crown), each declared an Outstanding Science Trade Book by the National Science Teacher's Association and distinguished as Selectors' Choices. They were also Booklist Editor's Choices, American Library Association Best Book selections, and ALA Notable Books for Children. Dragons in the Trees was named the 1992 Outstanding Nature Book for children by the John Burroughs Association and a recommended book for children by the Children's Literature Center of the Library of Congress. Crown published Living Fossils and Frogs in 1997.

Getty Images represents his photography. His travels led him to Africa, Madagascar, Antarctica, Europe, Borneo, Indonesia, and S.E. Asia. He leads photography tours around the world for Joseph Van Os Photo Safaris. He currently acts as executive director of Art Wolfe Inc. Over the last three decades he has hiked thousands of miles and climbed extensively.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Planet Ice: A stunning worldwide survey of ice on the planet and its relation to climate change, January 5, 2010

By 

Coragem (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Planet Ice: A Climate for Change (Hardcover)

Firstly, the photography in Planet Ice is truly astonishing. The fifteen years that James Martin spent photographing ice, animals and the outdoors shows in this gorgeous account of the rapidly changing ice on earth. This book provides a comprehensive - and stunning - visual view of the true nature of climate change, supported by leaders in the fields on paleoclimatology, glaciology, ice climbing, polar bears and etc. With essays by such voices as Patagonia founder Yvonne Chouinard, glaciologist Gino Casassa, and ice scientist Richard Alley, a well-formed picture of the disturbing truth about our rapidly changing earth is painted and elegantly documented in Martin's images. Whether your desire is to have a deepened understanding of global climate change or to admire exquisitely captured pictures of ice formations, wildlife and wild lands, you're sure to find something special in Planet Ice.