“Eye-opening… A must-read not just for environmentalists but for all politically conscientious readers.”—Kirkus (starred review)
“A meticulous account of how political appointees in the Bush administration worked to prevent scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration from communicating their research on climate change to the public.”—The Providence Journal
“This portrait of NASA climate scientist James Hansen and his decades-long struggle to alert the public about global warming’s perils and potential solutions ranges from deeply disturbing and frightening to inspiring. Disturbing, as Bowen (Thin Ice) gives convincing evidence that the Bush administration did its best to control NASA scientists’ communication with the public in order to undermine belief in global warming and belittle its consequences. According to Bowen, the administration set up ideological political loyalists in positions formerly held by career professionals, gutted NASA’s earth science budget, then denied these actions… Hansen’s conviction that tools exist right now to mitigate the worst effect—if only we will use them—is surprisingly hopeful.”—Publishers Weekly
“In the end, I believe we should think of James Hansen as an exceedingly reluctant hero, and an uncomfortable one to boot—the Bilbo Baggins of climate politics. Here’s a guy who really just wanted to get back to the hobbit hole of his research, but who was forced by the political situation in which he found himself—and the failures of others to step up and do the job—to march off and confront the dragon. But Hansen seized the moment and took the risk when many others did not, and for that he deserves to be celebrated.”—New Scientist
Praise for Thin Ice
“One of the best books yet published on climate change . . . The best compact history of the science of global warming I have read.”―Bill McKibben, The New York Review of Books
“Will appeal to mountaineering and climatology buffs, but should be read by everyone concerned about the future of our planet.”—Publishers Weekly
“In a smoothly flowing narrative, [Bowen] describes drilling ice at high altitudes and explains the science that points to a steady rise in global temperature as a result of human activities.”—Scientific American
“Readers will be intrigued by the author’s exceptional narrative and—at the same time—will able to stay safe and warm.”—Booklist
“Amusing and entertaining . . . Thin Ice is at the same time a scientific biography, a fine introduction to the sciences of climate change and a vivid description of a geophysicist’s work under most extreme conditions.”―Nature
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