on the planet. Awarded a major grant to conduct an exhaustive study of the Arctic's deteriorating environment, Los Angeles Times environmental reporter Marla Cone traveled from Greenland to the Aleutian Islands to find out why the area is so toxic. What she discovered shocked her: Tons of dangerous chemicals and pesticides from the United States, Europe, and Asia are carried to the Arctic by northbound winds and waves. As a result, Inuit women who eat seal and whale meat have far higher concentrations of PCBs and mercury in their breast milk than women who live in the most industrialized areas of the world, and they pass these poisons to their infants, leaving them susceptible to disease. Silent Snow is not only a scientific journey, but also a personal one. Whether hunting giant bowhead whales with native Alaskans or tracking endangered polar bears in Norway, Cone reports with an insider's eye on the dangers of pollution to native peoples and ecosystems, how Arctic cultures are adapting, and what changes will prevent the crisis from getting worse.

Hide more