In one hundred years, or even fifty, the Arctic will look dramatically different than it does today. As polar ice retreats and animals and plants migrate northward, the arctic landscape is morphing into something new and very different from what it once was. While these changes may seem remote, they will have a profound impact on a host of global issues, from international politics to animal migrations. In Future Arctic, journalist and explorer Edward Struzik offers a clear-eyed look at the rapidly shifting dynamics in the Arctic region, a harbinger of changes that will reverberate throughout our entire world.
Future Arctic reveals the inside story of how politics and climate change are altering the polar world in a way that will have profound effects on economics, culture, and the environment as we know it. Struzik takes readers up mountains and cliffs, and along for the ride on snowmobiles and helicopters, sailboats and icebreakers. His travel companions, from wildlife scientists to military strategists to indigenous peoples, share diverse insights into the science, culture and geopolitical tensions of this captivating place. With their help, Struzik begins piecing together an environmental puzzle: How might the land's most iconic species-caribou, polar bears, narwhal-survive? Where will migrating birds flock to? How will ocean currents shift? And what fundamental changes will oil and gas exploration have on economies and ecosystems? How will vast unclaimed regions of the Arctic be divided?
A unique combination of extensive on-the-ground research, compelling storytelling, and policy analysis, Future Arctic offers a new look at the changes occurring in this remote, mysterious region and their far-reaching effects.
"Struzik blends biology and politics with firsthand experience to present a comprehensive...portrait of the future." "Struzik's travel vignettes and discussion about the north are compelling." "Struzik's book is a thoughtful and impassioned argument that we need to respond to a warming world by researching, adapting, and changing what we are able to." "An urgent, passionate defense of ecological conservation and understanding." "An engaging new account of a planet transformed." "In Future Arctic, the intrepid explorer shares tales of his adventures, from surviving a terrifying peregrine falcon attack and tracking polar bears to navigating an anomalous Arctic cyclonic storm and living in native communities...The author views the Arctic through the lenses of archaeology, geology, anthropology, and ecology to draw a unique picture of where the sensitive region has been and where it might be headed." "Journalist and explorer Edward Struzik cogently analyses the environmental and policy challenges, drawing on research into past extinctions and present disruptions such as tar-sand exploitation, military territorialism and tundra fires. As he ticks off the costs to indigenous peoples, ocean biodiversity, caribou habitat and more, the case for an Arctic treaty and serious conservation efforts becomes ever clearer." "The scope and detail of his diagnosis lend weight to an alarming prognosis." "
"A broad, comprehensive, and fair-minded look at not only the upheaval in the Arctic, but what should be done about it."
" "From a review of the Arctic's exploration history to an analysis of the many governmental failures there, Struzik makes the case for the Arctic's unique place in the world and stresses that undeniable change has already occurred, and that coping with change and planning for the future are mandatory...A bracing read." "Struzik asks questions of wildlife scientists, military strategists, and indigenous peoples, and paints a complex picture with their stories." "Few places on earth are changing as fast as the high Arctic, and few have told the story as compellingly as Ed Struzik."---Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth "Future Arctic is marvelous-as a long-time arctic reseracher,
