
Ice Rivers: A Story of Glaciers, Wilderness, and Humanity
Audible Audiobook
– Unabridged
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This audiobook narrated by Jemma Wadham gives a passionate eyewitness account of the mysteries and looming demise of glaciers - and what their fate means for our shared future.
The ice sheets and glaciers that cover one-tenth of Earth's land surface are today in grave peril. High in the Alps, Andes, and Himalaya, once-indomitable glaciers are retreating, even dying. Meanwhile, in Antarctica, thinning glaciers may be unlocking vast quantities of methane stored for millions of years beneath the ice. In Ice Rivers, renowned glaciologist Jemma Wadham offers a searing personal account of glaciers and the rapidly unfolding crisis that they - and we - face.
Taking listeners on a personal journey from Europe and Asia to Antarctica and South America, Wadham introduces majestic glaciers around the globe as individuals - even friends - each with their own unique character and place in their community. Defying their first appearance as silent, passive, and lifeless, she reveals that glaciers are, in fact, as alive as a forest or soil, teeming with microbial life and deeply connected to almost everything we know. They influence crucial systems on which people depend, from lucrative fisheries to fertile croplands, and represent some of the most sensitive and dynamic parts of our world. Their fate is inescapably entwined with our own, and the potential consequences are almost unfathomable unless we act to abate the greenhouse warming of our planet.
A riveting blend of cutting-edge research and tales of encounters with polar bears and survival under the midnight sun, Ice Rivers is an unforgettable portrait of - and love letter to - our vanishing icy wildernesses.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
- Listening Length6 hours and 28 minutes
- Audible release dateSept. 7 2021
- LanguageEnglish
- ASINB09BBSD8XM
- VersionUnabridged
- Program TypeAudiobook
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Product details
Listening Length | 6 hours and 28 minutes |
---|---|
Author | Jemma Wadham |
Narrator | Jemma Wadham |
Audible.ca Release Date | September 07 2021 |
Publisher | Princeton University Press |
Program Type | Audiobook |
Version | Unabridged |
Language | English |
ASIN | B09BBSD8XM |
Best Sellers Rank | #154,374 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #982 in Environment (Audible Books & Originals) #1,276 in Nature & Ecology (Audible Books & Originals) #1,737 in Biographies of Professionals & Academics |
Customer reviews
Top reviews from other countries

(The cover the book itself was unfortunately damaged when arrived)


I wondered if this would be a book bogged down with facts and figures and straying to the over-technical side, but that's not the case at all. The book is written in a highly accessible style; there are some facts and figures and some technical workings but I wasn't aware of struggling with the concepts, as everything was so easily explained and put into context.
The book has chapters that cover glaciers and ice sheets in such different places of the world the author has visited and worked on; from the Alps to Patagonia, Greenland to Antarctica, Himalayas to Peru. And the style it is written in lets the reader go on that journey too and see, hear and nearly smell the sites covered, along with a nice touch of humour.
It is a real eye-opener about the environmental impact of climate change. This isn't just another global warming flag-waving mission, the facts are made abundantly clear, in context to the history of the sites, what could be happening and why and what is likely to happen and their likely effect to the planet and its inhabitants. This isn't a book on climate change, however, it is there because it is so obvious in the data and findings from the last few decades and it's woven deeply into the story and future of the world's glaciers. You can't have a conversation about glaciers without climate change being involved.
The author takes a personal route with this work too, subtly working in the various and traumatic parts of her life, and that makes the subject and the whole book inspiring to read.
I can honestly say that I know a lot more about glaciers now and so much of the text has remained in my mind, and I expect I'll be repeating various things to people(whether they're listening or not!). I will also be taking much more notice of the subject in future and am interested enough to buy other books on the subject.

The last two years or so, I've been on a bit of a reading binge when it comes to scientist-writers, most of them working on the frontline of climate change and biodiversity loss. Some books have worked better than others in capturing my attention and, perhaps more importantly, in getting the science to sink into my brain. One of the elements that works so well in 'Ice Rivers' is the pacing and rhythm between the author's personal, sensory experiences of her fieldwork, and the science of glaciers. It helps that there's a lot of quite beautiful terminology involved - "proglacial", "glacial flour"... I feel that I've learned so much, and Wadham is skilled in conveying important concepts such as the different mechanisms by which glaciers move and melt. I was especially amazed to learn about the vital role that glaciers play in providing nutrients to terrestrial and marine systems.
The author poignantly dwells here and there on her emotional life and events such as her mother's death, but never at the cost of sidelining the science - her life's work and passion, after all. 'Ice Rivers' feels like a brave book, in a way. It is a quietly devastating one too - there are edges of fear, urgency, and sadness to Wadham's writing, because she knows how little time we have left to save ourselves.

‘Ice Rivers’ is charted around the author’s personal life experiences, some of which are incredibly sad, but I love the style of writing that blends in with the technicalities of the subject, making the latter easier to digest, e.g.:
🧊 ‘...The fascinating thing about glacier ice is that it is not quite like the clear ice cube in your gin and tonic. ‘Glacier Blue’ has become almost a cliché in the paint-chart world ~ and yet its not always blue...’
Taken from an atmospheric paragraph that first sold it to me:
📝 ‘A riveting tale of icy landscapes on the point of irreversible change, and filled with stories of encounters with polar bears and survival in the wilds under the midnight sun...’
Split over 3 parts and subdivided into chapters, the ‘obsession’ begins in the Cairngorms and travels afar, with A GLACIAL GLOSSARY towards the back.
From AFTERWORD:
📝 ‘Every glacier that I have written about has shrunk during the 25 years that I have been studying them, to different degrees depending on how much the air and oceans around them are warming, and the character and circumstances of each individual glacier.’…
© Jemma Wadham/2021


Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 1, 2021
‘Ice Rivers’ is charted around the author’s personal life experiences, some of which are incredibly sad, but I love the style of writing that blends in with the technicalities of the subject, making the latter easier to digest, e.g.:
🧊 ‘...The fascinating thing about glacier ice is that it is not quite like the clear ice cube in your gin and tonic. ‘Glacier Blue’ has become almost a cliché in the paint-chart world ~ and yet its not always blue...’
Taken from an atmospheric paragraph that first sold it to me:
📝 ‘A riveting tale of icy landscapes on the point of irreversible change, and filled with stories of encounters with polar bears and survival in the wilds under the midnight sun...’
Split over 3 parts and subdivided into chapters, the ‘obsession’ begins in the Cairngorms and travels afar, with A GLACIAL GLOSSARY towards the back.
From AFTERWORD:
📝 ‘Every glacier that I have written about has shrunk during the 25 years that I have been studying them, to different degrees depending on how much the air and oceans around them are warming, and the character and circumstances of each individual glacier.’…
© Jemma Wadham/2021
