M Jackson

A book about the complex relationship between the people of Iceland and their changing glaciers. The author takes great pains to argue that there is much more to it than glaciers melting due to global warming, and there are chapters on the history of the ice coming and going, the hardships it produced and the complicated reasons why otherwise intelligent people choose not to see what's happening now. Some of it made sense and some of it made me scratch my head. There was for instance an interminable chapter on the minutia of ice cave tourism, all to make the point that global warming has revived the industry in Iceland, as people rush to see the ice before it's gone. There's a lot of repetition and beating points to death, and frankly I can't see how these arguments serve to bring attention to the problem at hand--on the contrary, they would seem to provide ammunition to climate deniers as much as anything,… (mais)

Dr. M Jackson, a geologist and glaciologist, examines the diverse relations between people and ice using the framework of Iceland. This wide ranging book is written for the general public and isn't weighed down with jargon. It explores the many facets of glaciers; more than just melt, ice as the most sensitive and unambiguous indicator of climate change. The author uses examples to show how the emotional and psychological state of the person controls how environmental information is transmitted and received. Over all quite interesting and approachable, an icy blue love story.… (mais)