The Ice Chronicles: The Quest to Understand Global Climate Change

by Paul Andrew Mayewski, Frank White, Lynn Margulis (Contributor)

Presents a history of the Greenland Ice Sheet Project Two and its findings on climate changes over the past 100,000 years.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2002

Reviews

[Seanbob Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book. Like good science the book ends with more questions than answers.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok, but definitely reads like it is 20 years out of date

[Bill Leach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about the 3048 m ice core that the GISP2 project extracted from the Greenland ice sheet. Lots of interesting anecdotes about the work. While the book was published in 2002, much of the material is still relevant, providing a good historical perspective.

The middle section of the book discusses what was found of the climatic record, the core going back 100,000 years. The forcings on climate are discussed, and the climate is shown to have varied greatly in the past - certainly more so than in the recent Holocene (10,000 years). Good chapter on Rapid Climate Change Events (RCCE's), showing how quickly the climate can change.

Good discussion and perspectives of the Medieval Warming and the Little Ice Age. Examples are given of past climatic events that have affected human history, such as the failure of the Viking Greenland settlements.

The author repeatedly emphasizes the variability of climate and the uncertainty of projecting the future. However, he feels that the best evidence is that the Little Ice Age ended prematurely and this is likely due to human activity.

Final chapters discuss policy issues around climate change.

[Maxim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Ice Chronicles - Another history of the GISP2 Greenland ice core and what we can learn from it, from another of the leaders of the expedition. Slightly different emphasis, but similar take always than “Two Mike Time Machine” which I liked a bit better.

[J M Leitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very, very interesting book. It challenges much of the hype behind global warming by proving global warming cycles occurred before humans existed on the planet in any great numbers.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary!