EP 817 Welcome to the Age of Ice Melt!

 For some years, we’ve been told that the ice melt in Antarctica, Greenland and other places in the cryosphere represent the harbinger of things to come announcing the profound effects of global warming on the planet.  Little did I know that a new discipline has developed around ‘ice patch archeology,’ which ties us to the environment and culture of the past.  Science journalist, Lisa Baril, in her new book “The Age of Melt: What Glaciers, Ice Mummies, and Ancient Artifacts Teach Us About Climate, Culture, and the Future Without Ice,” excavates a tour of ice for us, exploring the conflicting belief systems around ice and its integral relationship to people.  Interestingly, the more the ice melts the more we learn about the past and yet, at the same time, it compromises our future.  The meltwater is critical to the fresh water we drink and utilize in many parts of the world, but this sustainer of life can only do its job when it releases seasonally not in the overwhelming torrent that continued warming will eventually lead to.  We are in a race against time.  Can human ingenuity get us past this man- made crisis?  We’ll discuss today.

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