The Talks at Google podcast - where great minds meet. Talks at Google brings the world’s most influential thinkers, creators, makers, and doers all to one place. Every episode is taken from a video that can be seen at YouTube.com/TalksAtGoogle. DISCLAIMER: The views or opinions expressed by the guest speakers are solely their own and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Google, Inc. The comments on this channel belong only to the person who posted them. We do, however, reserve the right to remove off-topic or inappropriate comments. Also, the materials presented in the episodes are licensed to Google by the speaker(s). Google does not endorse any products or technology presented by the guest speakers.
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episode 159: Henry Pollack | A World Without Ice
Ice has been around for billions of years but it has taken less than three centuries for human growth and industry to bring it to the point of extinction. Henry Pollack, professor of geophysics at the University of Michigan for more than forty years and one of the world’s leading experts on the temperature of the Earth, argues that ice is natures best thermometer and perhaps its most sensitive and unambiguous indicator of climate change.
When ice gets sufficiently warm, it melts. Ice asks no questions, presents no arguments, reads no newspapers, and listens to no debates. It is not burdened by ideology and carries no political agendas. It just melts.
Without taking significant measures, agriculture and drinking water are at risk, as are millions who live on the coast and are in danger of becoming climate refugees. A World Without Ice is the first book of its kind that tackles the idea of climate change from the ice standpoint including how we got to the melting of the ice caps, what it means, ramifications and what we can do about it. The topic is fascinating and the evidence of a meltdown stunning.
Originally published in 2007, the year he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with fellow members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and former vice president Al Gore.
Visit http://g.co/TalksAtGoogle/WorldWithoutIce to watch the video.