Book Review: The North Pole Was Here

The North Pole Was Here by Andrew C. Revkin (Kingfisher, 2006, $15)

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Early in this engaging book is a photograph of Andrew Revkin at his base camp near the North Pole, hair matted, casting a crazed smile over his shoulder as he types a story into his laptop. The photo captures perfectly not only the enthusiasm brimming over into insanity inspired by ventures to the poles, but also the technological shift that has turned such voyages almost into a commonplace experience. After all, the North Pole is now visited by marathon runners, beauty contest winners, and sky divers as well as scientists, not to mention journalists. Despite the threat of hungry polar bears and silent ice cracks, travelers can schedule regular champagne flights, dog sled expeditions and ski trips there. All this to a place that, as Revkin notes, first felt the imprint of a human foot, that of Joseph Fletcher stepping off an Air Force C-47 plane, in 1952.

Revkin's title for this young-adult (but very enjoyable and informative book) is dual-purpose. A sign planted at the pole will soon find itself drifting south, drawn by the Arctic Ocean's currents to warmer climes that will melt the ice beneath it. But Revkin also points out that the ice no longer has to go as far south to melt, demonstrated in two startling images of the pole from 1979 and 2003 in which the 24 years have released a huge body of water over Russia that was frozen in the earlier satellite picture. Global warming is an important part of Revkin's story and a focus for the researchers he visits on the top of the world who monitor the currents beneath the ice cap, measuring salt water content, temperature and ice thickness. However, before handling climate change, Revkin provides an engrossing account of the failed attempts and lives lost as explorers flung themselves northward. The stories are hair-raising, starting with the 1553 attempt that resulted in the death of all 63 crewmember s aboard one ship. Having sealed every crack on board to keep out the cold, the men succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning from their coal burning stove and were said to be found the following year frozen in the midst of eating and writing.

For all the folly of those eager to lay claim to the title of first man at the North Pole, less glory-driven researchers were able to make major scientific contributions, as Revkin points out. Among these was an early example of international cooperation on a scientific effort: the establishment of research stations in a ring around the Arctic during what was dubbed the "Polar Year" of 1882-83 to create an overall account of conditions there. Even though 19 of the 25-member American expedition died, the Polar Year marked a change in the scientific community towards sharing of knowledge and review by one's peers, rather than wealthy patrons.

Today, the scientific community is forming a consensus about global warming and is investigating the processes driving it. Although politicians continue to obfuscate about human contributions to rising temperatures, according to a recent Time Magazine/ABC News/Stanford University poll, 85 percent of Americans believe global warming is happening and 88 percent believe it threatens future generations. It's the coming generation that Revkin hopes to reach, noting that "there's no more important audience, particularly when writing on the global environment." Hopefully this enthralling account will not only spur kids to fight global warming, but inspire them with a passion for science that will carry them into other uncharted territories.

For more on global warming, including the first chapter of The North Pole Was Here, please visit www.nytimes.com/learning/globalwarming.