For most people, planet Earth's icy parts remain out of sight and out of mind. Yet it is the melting of ice that will both raise sea level and warm the climate further by reducing the white surfaces that reflect solar energy back into space. In effect, our icy places act as the world's refrigerator, helping to keep our climate relatively cool. The Icy Planet lays out carbon dioxide's role as the control knob of our climate over the past 1000 million years, then explores what is happening to ice and snow in Antarctica, the Arctic and the high mountains.
Colin P. Summerhayes takes readers to the world's icy places to see what is happening to its ice, snow, and permafrost. He recounts tales from his own visits to these frozen landscapes, shining a light on some of the wonders he has encountered in his travels. He also brings together pieces of the climate story from different scientific disciplines, and from the past and the present, to illustrate how Earth's climate system works. Utilizing geological records of climate change alongside new technologies in ice coring, Summerhayes crafts a detailed and compelling record of Earth's climate history and examines how that can be used as a window into our future.
Author(s): Colin P. Summerhayes
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 465
City: New York
Cover
The Icy Planet
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Introduction
Ice—The Canary in the Coal Mine
Let’s Talk about Ice
Entering a New Geological Era—The Anthropocene
The Role of Ice in Earth’s Climate System
What Is Global Warming Doing to the Planet’s Icy Places?
Connections
Why Should We Care?
Experiencing the Icy Regions on a Virtual Journey
2. Icehouse Climates
Snowball Earth
The Icehouse Worlds of Paleozoic Time
The Mesozoic Greenhouse Interlude
The Cenozoic Icehouse and the Modern World
3. East Antarctica—The World’s Biggest Ice Cube
Heading South
Ice Runways and Air Networks
Ice and Climate
A Drifting Continent
Buried under Ice
Melting Ice Shelves
Emperors on Ice
A Cooling Ocean
Science on Ice
Tourism
A New Ice Runway
Lakes and Polynyas
4. West Antarctica and Dry Valleys
Early Explorers of the Ross Sea
Ross Sea Tourism
Dry Valleys
Subantarctic Islands
The Changing Climate
Numerical Models and Climate Forecasts
Drilling into Climate History
5. The Antarctica Peninsula, the Falklands, and South Georgia
South to the Peninsula
Patagonian Glaciers
Antarctic Expedition
Drake Passage
Icebergs and Pack Ice
Old Volcanoes and Adélie Penguins
Into the Caldera
Chinstraps and Elephants
Fjords and Islands
Paradise Harbour
Palmer Station, an American Outpost
Lemaire Channel and the Iceberg Graveyard
Glaciers and Ice Shelves
The Falkland Islands and South Georgia
Island Arcs, Trenches, and Volcanoes
Back across the Drake
Signs of Climate Change
6. The Arctic
Arctic Glaciation—Beginnings
The Land of Trolls
Svalbard
The Land of Ice and Fire
The Ice Plateau
North America’s Laurentide Ice Sheet
Alaska
Siberia
A Frozen Sea
Arctic Warming
7. The Third Pole—Mountain Ice
The Alpine Refrigerator
The Growth and Decay of Alpine Ice
Shrinking Glaciers Worldwide
A Close Acquaintance with Alpine Ice and Snow
The Glaciers of the Pennine Alps
Mountain Ice and Water
8. Rising Seas
Sea Level through Time
Rising Seas
Coastal Damage
Subsidence, Uplift, History, and Forecasts
9. Our Future
Losing Our Refrigerator
Coastal Impacts
Unintentional Planetary Engineering
Population, Energy, and Climate
Consequences
Intentional Planetary Engineering
UN Guidance from Glasgow
Cooling the Climate—Technological Solutions
The Nuclear Option
Adaptation
Geoengineering
Linking Global Warming and Biodiversity
What Can Individuals Do?
Closure
10. Epilogue
Sustainable Development
Economics, Ideology, and the Environment
Solutions
Where Next?
Appendix 1: List of Common Acronyms
Appendix 2: List of Figure Sources and Attributions
Notes
Index
