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Author Quarmby, Lynne, 1958- author.

Title Watermelon snow : science, art, and a lone polar bear / Lynne Quarmby
Published Montreal ; Kingston ; London ; Chicago : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2020

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Description 1 online resource
Contents Cover -- WATERMELON SNOW -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Map of the High Arctic -- Map of the Northwest Coast of Svalbard -- Watermelon Snow -- Acknowledgments -- Glossary and Notes -- Sources and Further Reading -- List of Crew and Participants
Summary "Concern about the climate crisis is widespread as humans struggle to navigate life in uncertain times. From the vantage of a schooner full of artists on an adventure in the high Arctic, biologist Lynne Quarmby explains the science that convinced her of an urgent need to act on climate change and recounts how this knowledge--and the fear and panic it elicited--plunged her into unsustainable action, ending in arrests, lawsuits, and a failed electoral campaign on behalf of the Green Party of Canada. Watermelon Snow weaves memoir, microbiology, and artistic antics together with descriptions of a sublime Arctic landscape. At the top of the warming world, Quarmby struggles with burnout and grief while an aerial artist twirls high in the ship's rigging, bearded seals sing mournfully, polar bears prowl, and glaciers crumble into the sea. In a compelling narrative, sorrow and fear are balanced by beauty and wonder. The author's journey back from a life out of balance includes excursions into evolutionary history where her discoveries reveal the heart of human existence. The climate realities are as dark as the Arctic winter, yet this is a book of lightness and generosity. Quarmby's voice, intimate and original, illuminates the science while offering a reminder that much about the human experience is beyond reason. Inspiring and deeply personal, Watermelon Snow is the story of one scientist's rediscovery of what it means to live a good life at a time of increasing desperation about the future."-- Provided by publisher
Analysis NATURE / Ecosystems & Habitats / Polar Regions
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Subject Quarmby, Lynne, 1958- -- Travel -- Norway -- Svalbard
Climatic changes -- Norway -- Svalbard
NATURE / Ecosystems & Habitats / Polar Regions.
Climatic changes
Travel
SUBJECT Svalbard (Norway) -- Description and travel
Subject Svalbard
Form Electronic book
ISBN 0228005086
9780228005094
0228005094
9780228005087