Book description
"Traveling in time and space across the Arctic, in The big Thaw Ed
Struzik describes at first hand the most alarming environmental crisis
of our times,. It's a land that Struzik is passionate about, and he
writes of its frozen beauty with an elegance of prose not seen since
Barry Lopez' Arctic Dreams." -
Tim Flannery,
author of The Weather Makers
"The top of the world is profoundly different than ever before
in human history. Climate change is already influencing the lives of
the locals, from Inuit to polar bears. But it's poised to make life
hard for the rest of us, too. Ed Struzik gives a canny and compelling
tour of a world in dangerous and rapid flux." - Bill
McKibben, author of Deep Economy
"An irresistible mix of lyrical writing, adventurous
feet-on-the-ground travel, solid reporting and acute observation of
the dire things that are happening in the Arctic. We should lock every
politician and corporate executive into a room and keep them there
until they have read and understood the message Struzik is brining us.
It is that important." - Marq De Villiers, author of
The End: Natural Disasters, Manmade Castastrophes, and the
Future of Human Survival
"All-embracing, luminous and provocative, The Big Thaw is a
fascinating chronicle of an infinite, threatened Canadian Arctic.
Struzik expertly melds past and present into a thought-provoking story
about what the current global warming means to Canada and the world.
He combines the human and scientific narratives into a wonderful
synthesis amplified by his won extensive travels through the North.
Everyone interested in the implications of a warming planet should
read this remarkable book." - Brian Fagan, archeologist,
historian and author of The Great Warming and The Little Ice Age
"Ed Struzik, one of those rare journalists who can paddle a
canoe and enjoy a meal of whale blubber, has written an important and
shocking book that reads like some new genre of adventure and horror
story. As the Arctic melts and unravels faster than the global banking
system, The Big Thaw raises some stark questions: just what will
Canada be without ice and snow? And what is a nation without its
dreams?" - Andrew Nikiforuk, author of Tar Sands: Dirty
Oil and the Future of the Continent
"An important book. Urgent, timely, heartfelt." - Will
Ferguson, author of Beauty Tips Moose Jaw: Travels in Search of
Canada
ED STRUZIK IS A NATURALIST-TURNED-JOURNALIST who has
spent the better part of the past 29 years focusing on the Arctic. His
travels by foot, ski, dog team, canoe, kayak, icebreaker and
helicopter have taken him to the remotest corners of the polar world.
Struzik is the author of two previous books and a prolific magazine
writer. His articles and photographs have appeared in dozens of
magazines around the world, including Canadian Geographic, Equinox,
Yale Environment 360, International Wildlife, Geo (Russia), Explore
Magazine, Nature Canada, Report on Business Magazine and Great Decisions.
The recipient of more than 30 awards for his writing, Struzik has
been nominated for the Grantham Prize for Excellence in reporting on
the Environment, and he has received multiple national magazine and
national newspaper awards, seven Canadian Science Writers Association
awards, the Knight Science fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, the Southam Fellowship at the University of Toronto and
the Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy. Struzik is also a multiple
Citation of Merit recipient of the Roland Michener Award for
Meritorious Public Service in Journalism and a recipient of the Sir
Sandford Fleming Medal, awarded by the Royal Canadian Institute,
Canada's oldest scientific society for outstanding contribution to the
understanding of science in Canada.
Ed Struzik lives in Edmonton, Alberta, with his wife and two
children.
