Author Alun Anderson discusses his new book "After the Ice: Life, Death, and Geopolitics in the New Arctic"

Alun Anderson discussed his new book, After the Ice: Life, Death, and Geopolitics in the New Arctic (published December 2009) yesterday (16 January 2010) on National Public Radio's All Things Considered in a segment titled What Happens to Polar Bears as Arctic Ice Shrinks?  Anderson is the former editor-in-chief of New Scientist magazine. Listen to the interview here.  A full transcript also is available.

Though the book focuses mostly on the consequences of climate change within the Arctic, Anderson warns of the the "Arctic's Revenge" -- the growing impacts Arctic changes will have for the rest of the planet. "Did we really think that we could make so many changes to the far-off Arctic and strip it of its ice, without the Arctic biting back?" he asks in the book's introduction.  "If we ever did, we were foolish." 

"What needs to happen from a policy perspective in your view right now to preserve the Arctic?" asks NPR's Guy Raz.  Anderson answers:

"Two big things. The first is, don't put any more stresses on the Arctic. So, strict regulation on drilling for oil, any ships trying to go through the Arctic, you know, good search and rescue - if there ever were an oil spill let's make sure we could deal with it quickly - so, and let's not do anything else that's going to mess up the Arctic. Control that in a moment. We don't have the rules, the regulations, and we don't have the ships, the planes to look after the place. And the second thing is, of course, to try to tackle global warming and cut back on our greenhouse gas emissions. And the faster we can do that the better. "

Browse portions of the book here.

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