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Ends of the Earth: Journeys to the Polar Regions

In Search of Life, the Cosmos, and our Future

Paleontologist Neil Shubin, in conversation with JPL's Alex Gardner, explains the dynamics of ice sheets and glaciers, what they tell us about our past, and what they portend for our future.

Paleontologist Neil Shubin is famous for his discovery of Tiktaalik, the 375-million year-old fossil that is considered a missing link between fish and humans.  That discovery was the inspiration for his bestselling book, Your Inner Fish, which was made into a popular three-part PBS miniseries. Tiktaalik was discovered in Devonian formations on Ellesmere Island in the Arctic Circle, and much of Shubin’s search for ancient fossils has taken place in both the Arctic and Antarctic. His new book, Ends of the Earth, is based on his explorations in the polar regions. We have discovered that the polar regions amplify and dramatize the climate changes going on more subtly elsewhere on our planet, and changes at the poles in turn will have impact on all life on earth. Shubin explains how we have come to this understanding, how we learned about the dynamics of icesheets and glaciers, how the ice itself chronicles a history of climate on our planet, how what has happened there in the past has shaped our development as a species, and how what is happening there now will shape our future. What happens at the poles does not stay at the poles - the ends of the earth offer profound stories that will forever change our view of life and the entire planet.

"Ends of the Earth is a cosmic adventure story written in ice.  It’s a tale of glaciers that flow like rivers and scientists who fall through crevasses and animals that evolve their own anti-freeze to allow them to thrive in extreme cold.  Shubin brings alive some of the harshest and most fragile places on earth, revealing the exquisite dance of time and physics and biology that created these icy realms and all the creatures that inhabit them, as well as the perils these regions now face in our rapidly warming world.  In the ice, Shubin has discovered the story of our time." - Jeff Goodell, author

Copies of Ends of the Earth will be available for purchase and signing by the author.

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