Today marks the 2nd International Polar Day, this time focusing on Ice Sheets. The Greenland Ice Sheet and the Antarctic Ice Sheet are the only ice masses large enough to be classified as ice sheets. Composed of snow compressed into ice over one kilometer thick on average, these ice sheets are the largest reservoirs of fresh water on earth. Several major expeditions across Antarctica are in progress to study the ice sheets. With stunning photos, the book Islands of the Arctic describes the evolution of the physical landscape and includes a discussion of glaciers and ice sheets. Field Notes from a Catastrophe; Man, Nature, and Climate Change addresses the problem of the melting polar ice sheets from every angle and asks what can be done to save our planet.
