The Quiet Limit of the World: A Journey to the North Pole to Investigate Global Warming - Tapa dura

&w illustrations.

The five hottest years since records have been kept are, in descending order, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993, and 1992. There is no longer a serious debate about whether global warming is a reality. Each year, disturbed weather patterns - severe winters, historic floods, freak droughts - provide devastating evidence of climatic change. The question is whether man is altering the very nature of life on Earth.

In the summer of 1994, Wayne Grady joined a team of scientists aboard the Canadian icebreaker Louis S. St. Laurent on a research trip to the North Pole. Accompanied by the US icebreaker Polar Sea, the ship set off from Victoria, British Columbia to investigate the effects of global warming at the planet’s northernmost reach.

Weaving natural science, oceanography, and Arctic history through the narrative, Grady chronicles that two-month trip. The Quiet Limit of the World reveals the dedication and ingenuity of the scientists. I

Wayne Grady is the science editor of Equinox magazine and a Governor General’s Literary Award winner. He has written four previous books of science, including The Dinosaur Project and Toronto the Wild.