Arctic Thaw

In 2005 photographer Peter Lourie and scientist, Dr. Paul Shepson headed to the Arctic to explore first hand the effects of global warming. They chose a region in the Arctic that is home to the Inupiaq people otherwise known as Eskimos. For three thousand years generations of these people have hunted whales to survive. Now, they are watching greenhouse gases, generated far from their homeland, change the temperature of the planet and cause melting of the icecap. "Fifteen to 20 percent of Arctic sea ice has disappeared in the past thirty years." As the ice goes, the balance in nature shifts leaving no where for seals to hide, no ice for bowhead whales to use for cover, no place for polar bears to raise their cubs and the potential for vast coastal flooding. A group of graduate students joined the team and conducted experiments on the chemical composition of the air. Blending the culture of the native inhabitants and the searching of the scientists, this book brings the change in our global temperature down to a very personal level and ends up asking the basic question, "What are you going to do to make a difference?" 47 pages