Iceland’s glacier communities’ stories help us navigate a changing planet
Bridging scientific knowledge and human narrative, The Secret Lives of Glaciers offers a new way to think about not only glaciers, but about how to navigate rapid environmental change.
Glaciologist and geographer M Jackson has spent nearly a decade among the people of the south coast of Iceland, gathering stories of the glaciers they’ve lived among for generations. Just released in her new book The Secret Lives of Glaciers, the stories examine the often surprising ways social structures are being affected by climate-caused changes in ice and offer a new perspective on how humanity might talk about — and tackle — the effects of climate change. Here, we ask Jackson to tell us more.
What is Secret Lives of Glaciers about?
When we talk about glaciers today, the conversation is often dominated by how they are disappearing. What’s missing from that story is you and me — people worldwide — and how ice influences us just as much as we influence ice. This book presents the stories of people who live among glaciers on the south coast of Iceland, telling how people and ice interact in many unique ways.
