For over a year, veteran journalist Ed Struzik traveled north, through Alaska, Canada's Arctic territories, and Greenland, observing the receding glaciers, dwindling herds, and invading species symptomatic of a world in decline.
"The Big Thaw" details not only the ecological drama taking place in the far north, but the struggles of its native people, the Inuit, to preserve their way of life, and the international battle over which country actually owns the Arctic and its wealth of natural resources. A dispassionate look at both the science and politics that underlie the global warming crisis, this book brilliantly captures the people and landscape of a world literally melting away.
Foreword. Introduction. Chapter 1: Nanuq: In the Tracks of the Great Wanderer (Southern Beaufort Sea). Chapter 2: The Lost World (Brintnell Glacier, Northwest Territories). Chapter 3: Changing Landscapes (Kluane National Park, Yukon). Chapter 4: In Northern Mists (Aboard the Louis St. Laurent). Chapter 5: Arctic Outbreak (Repulse Bay, Nunavut). Chapter 6: Waking the Dead (Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories). Chapter 7: IQ (Off the Coast of Northwestern Hudson Bay). Chapter 8: Caribou Crash (Cumberland Sound, Baffin Island). Chapter 9: Rich Squirrel, Poor Squirrel (Mile 1004 Alaska Highway, Yukon). Chapter 10: The Coldest War (Canadian Forces Maritime Warfare Centre, Halifax. Epilogue. Acknowledgments. Index.
Ed Struzik (Edmonton, AB, Canada) is the author of two books and the recipient of more than 30 awards for his writing. He has been nominated for the prestigious 2008 Grantham Prize for Environmental Journalism.
Stuzik melds the vivid stories of his experiences with fascinating explorations of the Arctic's past. (EnvironmentTimes.co.uk, July 24th 2009)