Antarctica : an intimate portrait of a mysterious continent

Summary: This profile of Antarctica and its indigenous life traces the history of regional exploration and the science currently being conducted there while explaining how Antarctica reveals key insights into the planet's environmental future. Antarctica is the most alien place on the planet, the only part of the Earth where humans could never survive unaided. Drawing on her broad travels across the continent, in Antarctica the author weaves all the significant threads of life on the vast ice sheet into an intricate tapestry, illuminating what it really feels like to be there and why it draws so many different kinds of people. With her we witness cutting edge science experiments, visit the South Pole, lodge with American, Italian, and French researchers, drive snowdozers, drill ice cores, and listen for the message Antarctica is sending us about our future in an age of global warming.