On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
Lost Antarctica: Adventures in a Disappearing Land
by James McClintock
Palgrave Macmillan, 2012 (($26))
Before scientists began exploring Antarctica in earnest at the dawn of the 20th century, many had assumed the continent was inhospitable to life. Yet as McClintock, who has made 13 trips to the region as a marine ecologist, notes, it is teeming with such colorful creatures as orange sea butterflies, red and yellow starfish, giant marine worms and 12-inch-diameter sea spiders, not to mention their better-known neighbors: penguins, seals and whales. Through firsthand observations, he makes clear what is at stake as the climate changes: Adélie penguins may vanish by the end of the century, along with krill and seafloor organisms. Some of these species harbor compounds active against cancer, flu and other diseases. If we can shrink the hole in the ozone layer, which we appear to be doing, McClintock theorizes, we should be able to reverse greenhouse gas accumulation, too.
COMMENT ATScientificAmerican.com/sep2012
Subscribe to Support Independent Journalism
Great science journalism requires human expertise, time, effort and creativity. And it costs money. That’s why I and the journalists here at Scientific American hope you’ll join our community.
When you subscribe, you are supporting staff and freelance journalists who are passionate about telling science stories that are true, important and compelling. Our editors and reporters are often experts in their fields, which means they understand the nuances of big discoveries and can untangle the breakthroughs from the hype. With a subscription, you are also supporting rigorous fact-checking to ensure the words we publish are precise and accurate. And you’re supporting original illustrations, graphics and photos that bring you closer to an advanced laboratory, an ice sheet in Antarctica or a space mission in orbit. You’re helping us craft other types of high-quality journalism as well: Our newsletters are carefully written, edited and curated by staffers you have or will come to know and love. Our Science Quickly podcast is based on original reporting, collaboration with editors and scientists and exacting production.
Subscriptions keep this engine running so we can continue to deliver thoughtful, rigorous and independent science journalism to you. In an era of viral misinformation, this work is crucial. If you value what we do, I hope you’ll consider joining us as a subscriber
