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Antarctica: The Global Warning
written by Sebastian Copeland
Studio : Earth Aware Editions
by Earth Aware Editions
Publisher : Earth Aware Editions
Released : 2007-09-28
Availability : Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Number of Items : 1
EAN : 9781933784199
Avg. Customer Rating: (based on 9 reviews)
List Price : $55.00
Our Price : $24.51
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Product Description |
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Antarctica's environment today is a microcosm of the wold environment's future: as endangered creatures, such as the chinstrap penguins, humpback whales, and albatrosses continue to face extinction, research scientists have concluded that this icy ecosystem serves as a final warning of impending environmental deterioration. Sebastian Copeland's photographs have captured both the incredible beauty of the continent and the devastation that climate changes have wreaked on it. His data, photographs, and conclusions — along with contributions from Will Steger, David De Rothschild, Stephen Schneider, Zac Goldsmith, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Leonardo DiCaprio — bring to readers with insight and urgency the momentous reality of the not so distant future with insight and urgency. |
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Great Antarctica photos |
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I first saw the book at the United Nations and loved it. But the price of $50 and the heavy weight made me think twice because I might not be able to fit it in my hand-carry. When I saw the price at Americancivilwar.com, I was thrilled. I just love those beautiful professionally done photos. They remind me of my recent cruise to that region of the world. I highly recommend it. |
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stunning, visuals... |
incredibly, stunning pictures...be sure to play the dvd as it contains even more details on getting there, especially interesting was the voyage through 'Drake's Shakes' a 3 day voyage through some of the roughest seas in the world. What I thought was missing was more details on how global warming has affected this area. While the pictures are incomparable, the visuals need more insight on how this area is being affected so much, what has changed over the years, and what this means to the rest of the world.
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Stunning photos, but too much of a good thing |
I must praise the photography in this volume. The photos are fantastic. Stark, eerie, they almost make you shiver from the Antarctic cold just looking at them. But unless you are a connoisseur of ice and snow packed and cracked and whittled into different shapes by the wind, it gets to be a bit much. In addition to the ice floating in the ocean and the snow covering the shores and mountains and wide vistas, there are animals. Lonely looking animals, for the most part. Lonely looking sea birds, sea lions, and penguins. But mostly there is ice. Ice in an infinite variety of colors and shapes.
This is probably a good coffee table book, to give guests something pretty to glance at. Unfortunately there is little context for the photos. They are presented one after another, without captions. Where, when were they taken? We see what look like whale skeletons lying on some forlorn landscape, but what kind of whales were they? How did the skeletons come to be up on the land? Many questions arise, but all we have is the stark images.
Finally, the text. There isn't much. Gorbachev and Leonardo Di Caprio blather about climate change. I'm almost inclined to be against anything those two people might be for, so that's a big strike against this book for global warming realists like myself. Of course we are treated to the sentiments of the photographer and other environmentally minded writers.
I simply find it sad that these beautiful photos are used to mislead people. The ocean has actually cooled a fraction in the past five years or so. As for surface temperatures across the globe, we also see no warming, on average, since 1997. There are many factors that influence climate. Human beings affect only a few of those factors. Climate has been changing drastically in various ways since long before anyone ever thought of modern industry or the internal combustion engine. The belief that humans can change our climate in a major way strikes me as hubristic.
Still, that doesn't take away from the major part of this book, the photos. If you love frozen water in a thousand different shapes, then this book is nearly the ultimate visualization of it. For me, too much is just too much. |
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SOS for Amazing Antarctica |
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I have visited Antarctica and climbed its ice in some of the very places photographed by Copeland. His amazing images capturing the majestic, awe-inspiring beauty of this magnificant continent can be beaten only by seeing it in person. The included DVD is a real treat, especially on a wide screen, where you feel you are right there with the bergs, the glaciers, the penguins, and the wild seas of the Drake. The book's climate-change warnings and insightful commentaries are timely and provocative, but hardly a huge part of the book. Ignore the global warming skeptcis who have rated it down--they don't know what they're talking about and are just plain wrong. Copeland and his commentators have it right on. I have seen with my own eyes the damage warming is causing to Antarctica. Tragically, it is very real. Buy the book for its fabulous pictures, learn why Antarctica is so compelling, then you will surely give attention to its warning and heed its SOS. |
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Beautiful pictures, flawed political message |
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Exquisitely beautiful pictures of the natural wonders of Antarctica. It is accompanied by a political message from non-scientists such as Leonardo DiCaprio regarding the effects of global warming. That may explain why they could not be bothered by such things as the fact that ice depth is actually increasing in that part of the world. But the pictures and message of conservation in general is good. |
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