Kingdom of Frost
How the Cryosphere Shapes Life on Earth
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
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?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Science journalist Vassnes does a wonderful job of discussing how ice has shaped life, and how it is threatened by climate change, in this educational survey. The "cryosphere," as he describes it, consists of the planet's areas of frozen water, which represent "35 percent of the Earth's surface, including around half of the land's surface." These range from glaciers and sea ice, to permafrost and the miles-thick ice cap covering Antarctica. Vassnes explains how extreme cold may have impelled the evolution of multicellular organisms and, millions of years later, of genus Homo. More recently, the thousand-year drought associated with the ice age led to the creation of agriculture. Today's developing climate crisis, he argues, is already being "manifested as a water crisis." Moreover, melting permafrost has begun to release massive amounts of greenhouse gases, further exacerbating global warming. On the positive, if somewhat counterintuitive, side, he cites research suggesting that reintroducing large grazing animals to the tundra might well slow and possibly reverse this troubling trend. Blending anthropology and history with science, Vassnes offers an alarming but illuminating narrative.
