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Ice humanities is a pioneering collection of essays that tackles the existential crisis posed by the planet's diminishing ice reserves. By the end of this century, we will likely be facing a world where sea ice no longer reliably forms in large areas of the Arctic Ocean, where glaciers have not just retreated but disappeared, where ice sheets collapse, and where permafrost is far from permanent. The ramifications of such change are not simply geophysical and biochemical. They are societal and cultural, and they are about value and loss.
Where does this change leave our inherited ideas, knowledge and experiences of ice, snow, frost and frozen ground? How will human, animal and plant communities superbly adapted to cold and high places cope with less ice, or even none at all? The ecological services provided by ice are breath-taking, providing mobility, water and food security for hundreds of millions of people around the world, often Indigenous and vulnerable communities. The stakes could not be higher.
Drawing on sources ranging from oral testimony to technical scientific expertise, this path-breaking collection sets out a highly compelling claim for the emerging field of ice humanities, convincingly demonstrating that the centrality of ice in human and non-human life is now impossible to ignore.
This book is relevant to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13, Climate action
Klaus Dodds
Klaus Dodds is professor of geopolitics at Royal Holloway, University of London, and a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. He is a leading authority on geopolitics and is often invited to join panels at events and in the media (including on BBC TV and radio) on the subject of border issues. He has written a number of books for a variety of popular and academic audiences, including for Oxford University Press's Very Short Introduction series, and since 2006, he has written a monthly geopolitics column for Geographical Magazine. Dodds is a recipient of the Philip Leverhulme Prize, awarded to "outstanding researchers whose work has already attracted international recognition and whose future career is exceptionally promising."
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