What the ice tells us about the past may help us understand its future—and ours—on Earth. It is relatively easy to convey how the loss of ice will damage the planet, but it is more difficult for people to value the stark beauty of glacial ice when so few have seen it first hand. Photographs are a pale substitute for direct experience, but I hope that my images can spark interest and understanding—and an appreciation for the pure beauty of ice. —James Martin
 As ancient ice melts and retreats, our planet is changing—rapidly. Planet Ice documents the beauty and power of ice and its unique role in revealing the condition of our planet. Glaciers and ice fields are critical to the health of our world, and we are making them disappear.
Pairing the striking photography of James Martin with essays by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, polar bear expert Ian Stirling, ice scientist Richard Alley, glaciologist Gino Casassa, and noted writers Gretel Ehrlich, Broughton Coburn, and Nick Jans, Planet Ice examines the characteristics and history of ice and explores human concepts of ice and wilderness. The essays and photographs transport us to far-flung locations around the world, introducing us to people and animals dependent upon ice. We travel to Antarctica, Greenland, Patagonia, Alaska, Mount Everest, the Andes, Mount Kilimanjaro, the Alps, the Rockies, the Cascades, China, Iceland, and beyond. Together, Martin and the authors illuminate the profound connection between ice—a substance at once mutable and forceful—and the well-being of the global community.
For more on the Planet Ice project, visit: www.greatoutdoors.com or www.jamesbmartin.com
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Planet Ice - Essayist Yvon Chouinard, the founder of the outdoor equipment company Patagonia, is one of the pioneers of big wall and ice climbing and the author of Climbing Ice,
the book that introduced modern ice-climbing technique to America. He
is also an avid surfer, kayaker, fisherman, and falconer, as well as an
outspoken proponent of mixing environmentalism and sound business
practice.Yvon Chouinard is ... |
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Planet Ice - Essayist Dr. Ian Stirling is a celebrated polar bear, seal, and marine ecosystem researcher with the Canadian Wildlife Service. He is adjunct professor of Zoology at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, and the author of Polar Bears, Bears: a Complete Guide to Every Species, and numerous academic papers.Dr. Stirling is an essayist for Planet Ice (Braided River, 2009). |
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Planet Ice - Essayist Dr. Richard Alley is the Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University and author of The Two Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change, and Our Future. He chaired the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council panel on Abrupt Climate Change, which yielded Abrupt Climate Change: Inevitable Surprises. He has also participated in the Ice Core Working Group ... |
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Planet Ice - Essayist Born and raised in Chile, Gino Casassa received a hydraulics
engineering degree from Universidad de Chile in 1984. During his early
university years he became actively involved in mountaineering and
developed a greater interest in frozen—rather than liquid—water.
Consequently, he completed a Ms.Sc. in Geophysics/Glaciology in 1989 at
Hokkaido University in Japan. In 1993, Casassa ... |
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Planet Ice - Essayist Gretel Ehrlich
was born on a horse ranch near Santa Barbara, California, and was
educated at Bennington College and UCLA film school. She worked in film
for ten years and began writing full time in 1978 after the death of a
loved one. She had been filming on a 250,000-acre sheep and cattle ranch
in northern Wyoming at the time-and there she stayed. The book that
resulted was The ... |
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Planet Ice - Essayist After graduating from Harvard College in 1973, Broughton Coburn
fulfilled a destiny with the Himalayas—where he has worked for two of
the past three decades. He has authored several books; developed
documentary films; and overseen environmental conservation and
development efforts for the World Bank, UNESCO, World Wildlife Fund, and
other agencies. He has also contributed to New Age, ... |
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Planet Ice - Essayist Nick Jans is a longtime contributing editor to Alaska Magazine and a member of USA Today's board of editorial contributors. He has written seven books, including The Grizzly Maze: Timothy Treadwell's Fatal Obsession with Alaska's Bears, A Place Beyond: Finding Home in Arctic Alaska, and Tracks of the Unseen.
He has published more than two hundred magazine articles and won a
number of literary ... |
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