Lost Antarctica: Adventures in a Disappearing Land (MacSci)

Lost Antarctica: Adventures in a Disappearing Land (MacSci)

by JamesMcClintock (Author)

Synopsis

Hidden between the ice and snow of Antarctica is a world unlike any other. Bitter cold, scarce resources, and six months without sunlight a year make this frozen landscape virtually uninhabitable for people. Yes these harsh conditions have created a unique and fascinating world of unusual plants and curious animals, mostly amphibians.A keen observer will find forests filled with 50-foot algae, sea spiders, coral, multicolored sea stars, and giant predatory worms,providing nourishment for fearless predators - from leopard seals to giant squid. Now, as temperatures rise,hardy species from warmer climates are making Antarctica their home, and destroying this fragile terrain. In a closely observed account, leading marine ecologist James McClintockgives us an unprecedented look at the ravages of the polar environment. From the demise of ice-dependant species to ocean acidification, this is a highly original and distinctive look at a world that we're losing.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 256
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 16 Oct 2012

ISBN 10: 0230112455
ISBN 13: 9780230112452

Media Reviews
'James McClintock shares his deep love of Antarctica vividly in this colorful narrative' Bill Gates The book is packed with joys, from soft-coral 'trees' that replant themselves to the snoozing Weddell seal, stinking of putrid fish, that the author encountered in a dive hut. Running like a chill current through all is the climate-driven decimation of the ice on which these ecosystems depend.' - Nature 'McClintock's tone is respectful and urgent, and he does not patronise...McClintock's argument is underpinned by a personal experience that allows us to empathise and therefore engage with the thaw beneath our feet.' - Katherine Macinnes, Literary Review
Author Bio
James B. McClintock is one of the world's foremost experts on Antarctica, and currently the Antarctic Marine Biologist Professor of Polar and Marine Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. McClintock hasappearedon local, national, and international public radio, CNN news, and the Weather Channel. Hehas been quoted in National Geographic Magazine, Discover Magazine,the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Wall Street Journal, andothers. McClintock Point, a piece of land on the north side of the entrance of Explorer's Cove on the Scott Coast of the Ross Sea, Antarctica, was named in honor of his research.