Title:
Kingdom of frost : how the cryosphere shapes life on Earth
Author:
Publication Date:
2020
Publication Information:
Vancouver ; Berkeley : Greystone Books, 2020.
©2020
Physical Description:
xi, 236 pages ; 23 cm
ISBN:
9781771644549
Abstract:
An award-winning science journalist explains what Earth's frozen waters tell us about the past, present, and future of humanity. "The Kingdom of Frost," or what scientists call the cryosphere, refers to all of Earth's frozen waters. Glaciers, ice caps, and fields of Arctic snow--the cryosphere is vital to our survival. It supplies us with water and helps cool cities from Bangladesh to Bangkok, Los Angeles to Oslo. In this captivating, eye-opening account, esteemed Norwegian writer Bjørn Vassnes interweaves brilliant climate reporting with the fascinating story of Earth's frozen world. He draws on cultural history and anthropology to tell us how the cryosphere once helped to spark life on Earth--and how it continues to sustain us despite its shrinking size. And he answers pressing questions such as: What will happen if it all disappears?
General Note:
Translation of: Frostens rike: Kyrosfæren og livet.
Contents:
Melting -_ Between fire and ice -- The first snow -- In the realm of the snow queen -- Life beneath the snow -- More than a hundred words for snow -- Traces of ice: the discovery of our frozen past -- Paradise -- The backbone of the continent -- The Alps: when the cryosphere becomes dangerous -- The river goddess and her sisters -- Toward niflheim -- The white continent -- Laboratory earth: life's frozen history -- Children of the ice -- Out of Eden -- When the ice returned -- Thin ice: what's happening to the cryosphere -- The roof of the world is melting -- Ivisible glaciers and cryoactivists -- Frozen earth -- Climate bombs in the tundra -- Climate help from the animal kingdom -- Last dance? (Is there a future for the cryosphere?).
Language:
English
