| Science |
| Environmental Science |
| Global Warming & Climate Change |
Summary
Summary
High in the Himalayan valley of Zanskar in northwest India sits a village as isolated as the legendary Shangri-La. Long fed by runoff from glaciers and lofty snowfields, Kumik--a settlement of thirty nine mud brick homes--has survived and thrived in one of the world's most challenging settings for a thousand years. But now its people confront an existential threat: chronic, crippling drought, which leaves the village canal dry and threatens to end their ancient culture of farming and animal husbandry.
Fire and Ice weaves together the story of Kumik's inspiring response to this calamity with the story of black carbon. Black carbon from inefficient fires - the particulate residue that makes soot dark - is the second largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide. It's also a key ingredient of the air pollution that public health experts regard as humanity's greatest environmental health risk worldwide: soot-laden smoke from household hearth fires and outdoor sources combine to kill over seven million people around the world every year.
Jonathan Mingle describes the joys and struggles of daily life in the Zanskar Valley, where villagers are buffeted by powerful environmental and economic forces, while also tracing black carbon's dark fingerprints outward from Kumik and around the world. Mingle investigates its impacts on snow, ice, and water from Mt. Everest to California, and the silent health epidemic it fuels from New York to New Delhi. Combining cultural history, detailed reportage, climate and energy science and dramatic storytelling, Fire and Ice is a profound examination of the global challenges of averting climate chaos and lifting billions out of energy poverty and water scarcity.
Can Kumik's people come together to reinvent fire, harness what remains of their life-sustaining ice, and reinvigorate their traditions of solidarity, in time to save themselves? Can the rest of us rise to the same challenge? Fire and Ice connects these questions with the work of enterprising scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and activists around the world, in a narrative that combines mythology, reason, humor, persistence, and hope in a race against a global clock.
Author Notes
JONATHAN MINGLE is a graduate of Dartmouth College, and holds a Master of Science in Energy and Resources from University of California, Berkley. Winner of the 2010 Hans Saari Memorial Fund Award and the 2010 American Alpine Club's Zach Martin Breaking Barriers Grant, Mingle has written for Slate Magazine, the New York Times , and the New York Times Magazine. He co-produced a photo-essay about the Himalayan village of Kumik for the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian. He lives in Vermont.
Reviews (2)
Booklist Review
Kumik, a tiny village in the Himalayas of northwest India, has existed for 1,000 years, relying on the snow melt from the glaciers above it to supply water. Now, after generations of a shrinking ice cap, the glacier is nearly gone and villagers are relocating themselves en masse in a bid to keep Kumik alive. Kumik is but a microcosm of worldwide atmospheric changes caused by black carbon or common soot. Mingle weaves science, travelogue, and mythology into an intriguing look at why the polar ice caps are melting. Drawing on recent research, Mingle emphasizes that the causes of melting glaciers go beyond the ill effects of greenhouse gases from carbon consumption. Scientists are studying a Little Ice Age about 150 years ago when industrialization was just beginning for clues to present dangers to the environment as well as respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, all tied to black carbon. This is a portrayal of the impact of carbon pollution on a small village and the worldwide ripples as scientists begin to understand the broader implications of carbon pollution.--Bush, Vanessa Copyright 2015 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Mingle, who writes about environmental issues for online magazine Slate, explores the topic of black carbon (soot), a product of combustion in transportation, manufacturing, and fires for cooking and heating. A more immediate threat to the environment than carbon dioxide, black carbon, scientists believe, causes changes in weather patterns and accelerates melting of glaciers people depend on for drinking water and crop irrigation. Most important, it is a health hazard, causing millions of premature deaths each year, especially among the women and children of the developing world. Mingle tells the story of Kumik, India, a tiny mountain village that has been in existence for 1,000 years and whose residents are moving the entire village down the mountain owing to a lack of water from the diminishing glaciers. Intertwined with this tale is scientific documentation on the dangers of black carbon and anecdotal evidence from the villagers. Mingle also offers possible solutions for the reduction of black carbon, while he shows how it affects people all over the world. VERDICT This fascinating, well-researched look at the problem of black carbon through the microcosm of a village and its residents is narrative nonfiction at its best.-Sue O'Brien, Downers Grove P.L., IL (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.