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

摘要

The Climes, to paraphrase Bob Dylan, they are a-changin'. Nowhere is that more evident than in the Arctic, where field geologists and climate modelers alike agree that the ice cap-once thought to be permanent-will almost certainly disappear well before the turn of the next century. Patches of open water have grown dramatically, particularly during the past five summers; sea ice thickness at the North Pole declined from eight feet in 2001 to three feet in 2007; and average Arctic air temperatures have risen by 4.5 Fahrenheitrndegrees over the last two decades. Alun Anderson, a research biologist turned science writer and editor-he's helmed New Scientist and the D.C. bureau of Nature-comprehensively sums up the science and the consequent politics and economics.