One of our key natural resources is the fresh water locked
up in glaciers. This interesting read explains why we now
need laws to protect glaciers and the environment around
them, as they shrink every year but glacier ice feeds major
rivers. The author, Jorge Daniel Taillant, has particularly
worked with those studying and protecting the glaciers of
the Andes, the world's second highest mountain range. We
learn that GLACIERS: POLITICS OF ICE is an apt title as
water becomes ever scarcer and more expensive while ice
lakes can melt swiftly and flood settled valleys. Taillant
founded and works with the non-profit Center For Human
Rights And Environment (CEDHA) and has contributed to
experts' meetings of the United Nations.
This easily readable book is piled high with fascinating
facts, and with equally interesting people. Map references
for Google maps are provided, so we can get on our 'net
devices and stare at glaciers on the Equator in Africa,
among other lands. The Andes range divides Argentina from
Chile, and the highest peaks in the chain form national
boundaries, plus the principle of seeing which way glacial
meltwater runs off the mountain - west or east - to
determine which country owns the mountain. When mining for
gold and silver threatened to dynamite glaciers in the
2000s, and the company actually did bulldoze through large
areas, concerned activists in Argentina organised a group
to protest, giving South America a now famous slogan, "Water is worth more than
gold." The reasons why mining
companies fought laws protecting glaciers are explained.
I learned what a glaciologist told the Secretary for
Environment in Argentina - that there are 'rock glaciers'
which are rivers of ice under and among soil and rock.
Permafrost which moves downhill under its own weight and
eventually melts to feed water courses and irrigate dry
lands. Because these do not show up as white, they are not
generally known but they still contain masses of slowly-
released water.
The short documentary film Chasing Ice is cited, which
shows a chunk of ice half the size of Manhattan Island
breaking off a Greenland glacier and rushing into the sea.
Photos of mountain glaciers in this book are sometimes
captioned with the words that this glacier has now
vanished. Mountains all over the world are losing glacier
ice to warming temperatures. So is there any lighter side
to the story? Well, did you hear the one about the man
jailed for breaking and removing chunks of glacier ice to
serve more interesting drinks? We also learn that a vegas
system refers to a dry area watered by glacier melt, as in
Las Vegas. Air and dust from centuries ago can remain
trapped in glacier ice, so scientists can learn about the
past.
While some of the information in the book is technical, I
enjoy the graphics showing how snow looks when it falls and
as it compresses to ice. Some spectacular photos are
included. A good tip when viewing satellite images is that
glaciers form on north-facing slopes in the Northern
Hemisphere and on south-facing slopes in the Southern
Hemisphere. So there is plenty for readers of all ages and
education levels. Jorge Daniel Taillant emphasises that
glaciers in remote places are less relevant for drinking
water than glaciers near populated areas. His splendid book
GLACIERS: POLITICS OF ICE is a tribute, not only to these
ice rivers, but to the people who go out of their way to
protect them for the future.
Though not traditionally thought of as strategic natural resources, glaciers are a crucial part of our global
ecosystem playing a fundamental role in the sustaining of life around the world. Comprising three quarters of
the world's freshwater, they freeze in the winter and melt in the summer, supplying a steady flow of water for
agriculture, livestock, industry and human consumption. The white of glacier surfaces reflect sunrays which
otherwise warm our planet. Without them, many of the planet's rivers would run dry shortly after the winter
snow-melt. A single mid-sized glacier in high mountain environments of places like California, Argentina,
India, Kyrgyzstan, or Chile can provide an entire community with a sustained flow of drinking water for
generations.
On the other hand, when global temperatures rise, not only does glacier ice wither away into the oceans and
cease to act as water reservoirs, but these massive ice bodies can become highly unstable and collapse into
downstream environments, resulting in severe natural events like glacier tsunamis and other deadly
environmental catastrophes. But despite their critical role in environmental sustainability, glaciers often exist
well outside our environmental consciousness, and they are mostly unprotected from atmospheric impacts of
global warming or from soot deriving from transportation emissions, or from certain types of industrial activity
such as mining, which has been shown to have devastating consequences for glacier survival.
GLACIERS: THE POLITICS OF ICE IS a scientific, cultural, and political examination of the cryosphere -- the
earth's ice -- and the environmental policies that are slowly emerging to protect it. Jorge Daniel Taillant
discusses the debates and negotiations behind the passage of the world's first glacier-protection law in the
mid-2000s, and reveals the tension that quickly arose between industry, politicians, and environmentalists
when an international mining company proposed dynamiting three glaciers to get at gold deposits underneath.
The book is a quest to educate general society about the basic science behind glaciers, outlines current and
future risks to their preservation, and reveals the intriguing politics behind glacier melting debates over
policies and laws to protect the resource. Taillant also makes suggestions on what can be done to preserve
these crucial sources of fresh water, from both a scientific and policymaking standpoint.
Glaciers is a new window into one of the earth's most crucial and yet most ignored natural resources, and a call
to reawaken our interest in the world's changing climate.
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