The Big Melt

Everyone by now has some degree of familiarity with the concept of global warming. Many scientists are of the view that it is driven by humankind’s reliance on fossil fuels, and that the consequences may prove dire if serious efforts are not soon undertaken to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. There is a distinct minority that questions the soundness of the science behind the doomsday predictions. Perhaps predicting changes in the atmosphere involves so many variables that it is too simplistic to ascribe it only to human-induced phenomena.

I do not have the scientific background needed to engage with that debate directly, and therefore will not. I have nonetheless had the pleasure of reading two fascinating books that present a powerful and serious challenge to the global warming skeptics: The Right to Be Cold: One Woman’s Story of Protecting Her Culture, the Arctic and the Whole Planet, by Sheila Watt-Cloutier, an Inuk leader and activist who has been...