Anthropocene In The Arctic

A behind the scenes account of how the scientific community came to terms with the changing landscape of the Arctic

- Anant Misra

BUT THE Arctic tells no lies”. It is with these words that Mark C Serreze closes the last chapter of his book, Brave New Arctic. The words are at once mournful as well as menacing. What makes them truly ominous is that throughout the book, Serreze’s tone remains neutral and matter-of-fact, sometimes painfully so. Soon after discussing the declining population of polar bears—which he takes care to point out is due to a variety of factors—Serreze cheerfully mentions that bowhead whales are actually doing quite well as the loss in sea-ice has led to a bounty of food supply.