Glacier Status in Montana, 2015

UPDATE ON GLACIER’S ICONIC ICE

North America’s iconic glaciers have stepped further toward oblivion. In 2015, the 25 remaining glaciers in Glacier National Park, Montana, suffered their worst season in a decade. The poor health of three glaciers, in particular, stands out this past year. Sperry Glacier just had its worse year, for shrinking ice, since 2005. Grinnell Glacier lost 13 acres this past summer, most of it from a single calving event into the iceberg-strewn lake beneath it. Swiftcurrent’s ice was exposed, without snow cover, for the entire summer, so it may have lost a few acres as well. The last glaciers, already down from an original 150 glaciers, may lose more of their number in the year to come. For more information on Glacier National Park, read “The Melting World: A Journey Across America’s Vanishing Glaciers,” available at bookstores.

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“The Last Lobster,” New Publication

Announcing….

The Last Lobster: Boom or Bust for Maine’s Greatest Fishery?

By Christopher White

St Martin’s Press (Publication Date: June 5, 2018)

From environmental writer Christopher White—author of Skipjack and The Melting World—comes a mystery: the curious boom in one of our favorite and most iconic seafoods and its probable crash.

Maine lobstermen have happened upon a bonanza along their rugged, picturesque coast. For the past five years, the lobster harvest has exceeded 120 million pounds, six times the record catch from the 1980s—unheard of in coastal fisheries. In a detective story, scientists and fishermen explore various theories for the glut. Leading contenders are a sudden lack of predators and a recent wedge of warming waters, which may disrupt the reproductive cycle, a consequence of climate change.

We follow three lobster captains—Frank, Jason, and Julie (one of a few female skippers in Maine)—as they haul and set thousands of traps through the seasons. They are lively characters on the water, ever wary of the future. Unexpectedly, boom may turn to bust. The captains must fight a warming ocean, volatile prices, and rough weather to keep their livelihood afloat. The oversupply of lobsters causes the lobster price to plummet. Captains work longer hours, trying to make up in volume what they lack in price. As a result, we find 3 million lobster traps on the bottom of the Gulf of Maine. In response to the overkill, Frank, Jason, and others call for a reduction of traps, which will boost prices. As such, they are among the first American communities to confront global warming and its impact on fisheries.

The survival of the Maine Coast depends upon their efforts. It may be an uphill battle to create a sustainable catch. Already, high temperatures are displacing lobsters northward toward Canadian waters—out of reach of American fishermen. The last lobster may be just ahead.

PRAISE

Praise for The Melting World:

“[A] moving story emerges. It’s a fascinating outdoor adventure, an illuminating look into the science of a melting mountain–a fresh warning that the warming world is already here.”

–New York Times Book Review

Christopher White has written five books, including Skipjack: The Story of America’s Last Sailing Oystermen and The Melting World: A Journey Across America’s Vanishing Glaciers. His articles have appeared in Audubon, The Baltimore Sun, The New Mexican, National Geographic, and Exploration. He grew up on the shores of Chesapeake Bay.

For more information, please visit:

www.christopherwhitebooks.com

Click on link below to pre-order from Amazon:

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CONVERSATION & BOOK SIGNING at JourneySantaFe

JourneySantaFe

Join author Christopher White for a conversation and Q&A at JourneySantaFe, located at Collected Works Bookstore, Galisteo and Water Streets, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Sunday, March 30, 2014, at 11 AM.

MELTING WORLD: The Fate of America’s Alpine Glaciers

When author Christopher White hiked around Glacier National Park in 1976, no one had heard of global warming. The Park boasted nearly 40 pristine alpine glaciers. Since then, Chris spent five years (2008-2013) exploring the fate of mountain glaciers in the Rockies and around the world. In Glacier National Park, only 25 glaciers remain. Forecasts suggest these last icefields will vanish in ten year’s time, with cascading impacts to wildlife and forests downstream. This intimate event with Chris features excerpts from his book, The Melting World: A Journey Across America’s Vanishing Glaciers, and tales of his personal journey to document the impact of America’s vanishing ice.

Christopher White is a science writer and journalist, specializing in narrative nonfiction. He has written four books, including Skipjack: The Story of America’s Last Sailing Oystermen, and has written for publications ranging from The Baltimore Sun to National Geographic. Chris has a degree in biology from Princeton University and an appetite for mountaineering, with ascents on three continents. He lives in Santa Fe.

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