Eleven of Canada's leading geographers, geologists, and ecologists provide an authoritative, readable collection of scientific essays about the physical nature of Canada's coldness. They focus on the distinctive attributes of Canada's cold environments, their temporal and spatial variability, and the constraints that coldness places on human activity. Canada's Cold Environments is aimed at environmental scientists at all levels who need informed overviews of the substantive findings on a range of cold-related topics.
Low temperatures, wind-chill, snow, sea ice, and permafrost have been primary characteristics of Canada's northern and alpine environments during the past two million years. The evolution of Canada's cultural landscapes, the processes of settlement of rural areas, and the present interaction of Canadian industrial society with its biophysical environment are all deeply influenced, directly or indirectly, by the frigidity of the greater part of the country. The phenomenon of global warming, if it occurs, will lessen this coldness, but its impact on temperature extremes, sea ice regimes, vegetation, snow distribution, permafrost, glaciers, lakes, rivers, and mountain hazards are all the subject of intensive research -- the highlights of which are reviewed in Canada's Cold Environments.
Eleven of Canada's leading geographers, geologists, and ecologists provide an authoritative yet readable scientific statement about the physical nature of Canada's coldness. They focus on the distinctive attributes of Canada's cold environments, their temporal and spatial variability, and the constraints that coldness places on human activity. The book is aimed at environmental scientists at all levels who need informed overviews of the substantive findings on a range of cold-related topics.
ISSN 1188-7796
Series editor: R. Cole Harris
The series addresses important topics in Canadian geography. Each volume, a closely edited collection of original contributions, deals with a major theme in Canadian geography, providing a state-of-the-art review by authors engaged in fundamental research in the areas chosen. The series includes work by both physical and human geographers and by specialists in related fields, permitting an interdisciplinary approach to the topics. Most authors are well known, but promising young scholars also present their ideas. At a time when Canada is redefining itself, the series as a whole contributes to our understanding of the context of the debate. The volumes are essential learning tools for undergraduate students, the general public, and, in some cases, senior high-school students. They also give non-Canadians - scholars and students of Canadian Studies in the United States and overseas - a vivid picture of the unity and diversity of Canada.
