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Kingdom of Frost: How the Cryosphere Shapes Life on Earth - Hardcover | Diverse Reads

Kingdom of Frost: How the Cryosphere Shapes Life on Earth

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An award-winning science journalist explains what Earth’s frozen waters tell us about the past, present, and future of humanity.

“The Kingdom of Frost,” or what scientists call the cryosphere, refers to all of Earth’s frozen waters. Glaciers, ice caps, and fields of Arctic snow—the cryosphere is vital to our survival. It supplies us with water and helps cool cities from Bangladesh to Bangkok, Los Angeles to Oslo.

In this captivating, eye-opening account, esteemed Norwegian writer Bjørn Vassnes interweaves brilliant climate reporting with the fascinating story of Earth’s frozen world. He draws on cultural history and anthropology to tell us how the cryosphere once helped to spark life on Earth—and how it continues to sustain us despite its shrinking size.

And he answers pressing questions such as: What will happen if it all disappears?

ISBN-13: 9781771644549

Media Type: Hardcover

Publisher: Greystone Books

Publication Date: 03-24-2020

Pages: 240

Product Dimensions: 5.80(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)

Bjørn Vassnes grew up in the Norwegian Arctic, one of the coldestplaces on earth. He is one of Norway’s leading science journalists, has won national and international writing prizes including the Fritt Ord Honorary Award and the Golden Pen. He has a science column in one of Norway’s top daily newspapers and has written several popular books and produced television programs with scientific and environmental themes.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Blending anthropology and history with science, Vassnes offers an alarming but illuminating narrative.”
— Publishers Weekly

Table of Contents

Timeline-Earth's History vii

Prologue: The Dance of the White Caps ix

1 Melting 1

2 Between Fire and Ice 7

3 The First Snow 15

A Closer Look: The Greenhouse Effect 17

A Closer Look: Albedo-the Effect of Whiteness 23

4 In the Realm of the Snow Queen 25

5 Life beneath the Snow 37

6 More Than a Hundred Words for Snow 43

7 Traces of Ice: The Discovery of Our Frozen Past 50

8 Paradise 67

9 The Backbone of the Continent 79

10 The Alps: When the Cryosphere Becomes Dangerous 88

11 The River Goddess and Her Sisters 97

12 Toward Nifiheim 111

13 The White Continent 118

A Closer Look: The Cryosphere Today 128

14 Laboratory Earth: Life's Frozen History 131

15 Children of the Ice 140

16 Out of Eden 150

17 When the Ice Returned 159

18 Thin Ice: What's Happening to the Cryosphere? 168

19 The Roof of the World Is Melting 181

20 Invisible Glaciers and Cryoactivists 190

21 Frozen Earth 196

22 Climate Bombs in the Tundra 200

23 Climate Help from the Animal Kingdom 204

14 Last Dance? (Is There a Future for the Cryosphere?) 214

Notes 216

Index 227