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The polar regions are the 'canary in the coal mine' of climate change: they are likely to be hit the hardest and fastest. This comprehensive textbook provides an accessible introduction to the scientific study of polar environments against a backdrop of climate change and the wider global environment. Polar Environments and Global Change assembles diverse information on polar environmental characteristics in terrestrial and oceanic domains, and describes the ongoing changes in climate, the oceans, and components of the cryosphere. Recent significant changes in the polar region caused by global warming are explored: shrinking Arctic sea ice, thawing permafrost, accelerating loss of mass from glaciers and ice sheets, and rising ocean temperatures. These rapidly changing conditions are discussed in the context of the paleoclimatic history of the polar regions from the Eocene to the Anthropocene. Future projections for these regions during the 21st Century are discussed. The text is illustrated with many color figures and tables, and includes further reading lists, review questions for each chapter, and a glossary.
Preface
About the Authors
Acknowledgments
1. The Setting, History of Studies, and the Climatic Role of the Cryosphere
2. Paleoclimatic History
3. Observing Polar Environment
4. Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulation and Climate
5. Terrestrial Environments and Surface Types of the Polar Regions
6. Ice Sheets and Shelves
7. Oceanic Environments
8. The Third Pole
9. Future Polar Environments
Appendix Polar Institutes
Glossary
Select Bibliography
Index
Roger G. Barry is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Geography at University of Colorado, Boulder and is the former director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center. He has published 29 textbooks, 260 research articles, and supervised 65 graduate students. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow, Fulbright Teaching Fellow, and a visiting professor in 8 countries.
Eileen A. Hall-McKim is a Climatologist receiving her doctorate from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her interdisciplinary degrees include work in the geological sciences, paleoclimatology, meteorology, oceanography, and water resources. She is the co-author, with Roger, of Essentials of the Earth's Climate System (2014).
