Lost Antarctica Adventures in a Disappearing Land

by McClintock, James

• ISBN13: 9780230112452
• ISBN10: 0230112455
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-09-18
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Summary

Hidden between the ice and snow of Antarctica is a world unlike any other. Bitter cold, scarce resources, and six months a year without sunlight make this frozen landscape virtually uninhabitable for humans. Yet 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 McClintock gives us an unprecedented look at the ravages of the polar environment. From the demise of ice-dependent species to ocean acidification, this is a highly original and distinctive look at a world that we're losing.

Author Biography

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 has appeared on local, national, and international public radio, CNN news, and the Weather Channel. He has been quoted in National Geographic Magazine, Discover Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Wall Street Journal, and others. 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.

Table of Contents

"Lost Antarctica is a very original, readable, and authoritative introduction to a little known part of Earth's natural environment, and has increasing threat to its existence."— Edward O. Wilson

"Lost Antarctica is an intimate tour of a rapidly changing continent, led by one of the scientists who knows it best. James McClintock has written an important and timely book"-- Elizabeth Kolbert

"James McClintock shares his deep love of Antarctica vividly in this colorful narrative.  He issues a stark warning about the catastrophe facing this remarkable place - and our globe - from the twin dangers of climate change and ocean acidification.  Lost Antarctica reminds us of the urgency of finding new energy systems that do not use our atmosphere or oceans as a waste dump."-- Bill Gates

"Jim McClintock takes us with him on an extraordinary field trip to Antarctica, the frigid part of the Garden of Eden. With superb descriptions of the ice and biosphere of the great white continent, he carefully documents how climate change is having a big impact on the penguins, seals and other sea creatures that inhabit the polar waters."--Henry Pollack, Ph.D., author of A World without Ice