LISA BARIL: THE AGE OF MELT
This episode of Big Blend Radio’s “Nature Connection” Podcast features science journalist and author Lisa M. Baril, author of “The Age of Melt: What Glaciers, Ice Mummies, and Ancient Artifacts Teach Us about Climate, Culture, and a Future without Ice.”
Around the world, ice has preserved some of history’s most fascinating artifacts, such as the skeleton of an Iron Age horse, wooden arrows with bird-feather fletching, and even a baby mammoth. Yet, these incredible pieces of history were only discovered as the ice began to do what we all feared: melt.
Science journalist Lisa Baril traveled all over the world studying ice and its effect on humans. In THE AGE OF MELT, she explores the shifting view that humans have long held of glaciers—from fear, to awe, to conquest. The book begins with the story of Ötzi, the famous ice mummy discovered in 1991 by a pair of European hikers in the Alps. Ötzi was well preserved for a 5,300-year-old mummy because of the ice, but as important as his discovery was, it also unearthed a question: who has the right to ice’s information?
A unique form of science, ice-patch archeology, arose from the current climate crisis, as such discoveries could only be made at the cost of the world’s ice formations. It’s paradoxical, Baril notes, “The more the ice melts, the more we learn about the past…while melting ice compromises our future.” Yet Baril is hopeful, “Although we can’t rewind the clock to a time before human-caused climate change, we can use the knowledge gained from melting ice to help us respond more thoughtfully when considering the kind of future we want for ourselves and for the generations of humans yet to be born.”
A delightful pop-sci adventure, THE AGE OF MELT takes the reader on a world tour of ice, exploring the conflicting belief systems around ice and its integral relationship to people. From indigenous traditions for hunting and subsistence, to patterns of global travel and trade, and mythologies of spiritual reverence, melting ice has revealed so much about human culture, the environment, the past, and most importantly, our future.
Lisa Baril is a science writer who has written about natural resources and science for national parks across the southwestern United States. She holds a master’s degree from Montana State University and is a member of the National Association of Science Writers, Society of Environmental Journalists, and the Outdoor Writers Association of America. She lives with her husband and water-loving English lab in northwestern Wyoming. More at https://www.lisabaril.com/
