Review by Choice Review
Arctic science has become a centerpiece for understanding the impacts of global climate change, and decades of federally funded research across multiple fields of study have documented dramatic changes in the atmosphere, hydrologic and cryospheric systems (including glaciers, oceans, permafrost, rivers, and sea ice), and terrestrial ecosystems. A remarkable, often cited fact is that surface temperatures over the Arctic are rising, on average, at twice the rate of the rest of the planet. Although this result seems a simple indicator of change and of consequences to come, the theme of this book is one of complex and varying relationships and interdependencies of Arctic systems, from intricate human activities to the steady but certain decline in sea-ice extent and volume. Serreze (National Snow and Ice Data Center; Univ. of Colorado) offers readers an engrossing insider's account of how a diverse science community coalesced around puzzling findings to emerge with remarkable discoveries, occasional periods of confusion, and sometimes controversial interpretations. The author's accessible and compelling style reveals deep insights into how the Arctic works, how it has changed, and where it is headed. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. --Roberto Antonio Delgado, National Insitutes of Health
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by New York Times Review
At a news conference in 2008, Serreze, the director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center, announced that the Arctic sea-ice cover was "in a death spiral." At the time, this was dismissed as alarmist rhetoric by climate change deniers and even by some of his fellow scientists. Ten years later, as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announces that the Arctic "shows no sign of returning" to a "reliably frozen region," Serreze's declaration has a documentary feel. As we learn in this fascinating book about how researchers came to understand Arctic warming and its causes, Serreze was not an early adopter of this idea. "1 was sometimes a picture of contradiction," he writes, "and depending on who 1 was talking to, my voice changed." A self-described "fence-sitter," Serreze was, as late as 2000, writing papers that cast doubt on the idea that "enhanced greenhouse warming" played a role in the melting Arctic. Yet he was far from the only researcher baffled by the events unfolding in the region. Although he sometimes lapses into jargon or becomes bogged down in the details of information-gathering technologies, Serreze provides a window into the remarkable scientific process that led to the consensus that the Arctic's dramatic warming trend couldn't be written off as natural climate variability. Because the Arctic is a place of "astounding complexity" - a point he argues persuasively - many scientists were slow to understand the portentous changes they were witnessing. Indeed, the Arctic described here is an ecological Rube Goldberg assemblage that for many years defied most attempts to understand it. As he documents this process, Serreze doesn't shy away from the failures of the Arctic research community, including his own. Particularly interesting are the mea culpas from Serreze and fellow scientists who chased scientific red herrings or, deafened by the din of natural climate variability, misread the data. The Arctic, Serreze writes, "tells no lies." But its truth can be hard to discern. Ashley SHELBY'S novel, "South Pole Station," will be released in paperback this summer.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [June 17, 2018]
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Documenting the connection between unprecedented ice-melting in the Arctic and climate change throughout the world.Climatologist Serreze (Geography and Environmental Sciences/Univ. of Colorado; co-author: The Arctic Climate System, 2006), who directs the National Snow and Ice Data Center, makes frequent trips to the Alaskan and Canadian Arctic. In his latest book, he combines advocacy, tales of his personal experiences in the far north, narratives from other climate scientists, and explanations of how sound science functions. The author shares the story of how he entered the field of climate science by accident; why, at first, he thought the climate might be getting colder rather than warmer, based on measurements from complicated Arctic weather systems; how, year after year, he became further convinced about the reality of global warming due to slowly accumulating data; and why he began to participate avidly in a scientific consensus combating climate-change deniers, most of whom have been politically motivated. Ultimately, what Serreze produces is a kind of detective story; the major crime is the human causation of global warming. The clues, however, are often presented through highly technical data, meaning general readers must labor to understand the terminology underlying those clues. Ultimately, the evidence becomes clearin part due to Serreze's repetitionthat Arctic ice is shrinking in mass, thus warming the ocean, and that the ice in Greenland is rapidly melting, thus raising sea levels in dangerous ways. Furthermore, the permafrost traditionally covering Arctic ground is warming and thawing. All of these factors contribute greatly to global warming. In fact, notes the author, new warming records are being established nearly every year. The author believes the only solution is reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but even that difficult task will result in only modest positive change at this juncture.An alarming, evidence-based book by a scientist who is not by nature an alarmist. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
