| 50-5014 | G860 | 2012-5626 CIP | | Science & Technology Earth Science | | McClintock, James. Lost Antarctica: adventures in a disappearing land. Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. 231p index; ISBN 9780230112452, $26.00. Reviewed in 2013may CHOICE. | | McClintock (Univ. of Alabama) is a marine biologist who has conducted extensive research in Antarctica; this includes hazardous work beneath the thick ice shelves that surround the Antarctic Peninsula. He draws on his scientific expertise to provide an outstanding, highly readable account of the impacts of current climate warming on subsurface and ocean floor ecosystems. He and his colleagues have established how the microbiological changes are affecting the surface systems, including penguins, birdlife in general, sea mammals (whales and seals), and fish. He refers to ocean acidification as “the other CO2 problem,” which has yet to receive the same attention from the news media and environmentalists as atmospheric greenhouse gas proliferation. His approach is to present serious science that will be accessible to the general reader, but still science in the best academic tradition. The book is interspersed with tales of adventure that reflect McClintock’s commitment to an extreme vocation. Though scientific terminology abounds and ecological theory is introduced, it does not detract from the ease of understanding for all levels of readership. The author clearly describes the advance of a potentially serious catastrophe, and by no means can he be accused of exaggeration. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All library collections. — J. D. Ives, emeritus, Carleton University |
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