The Big Melt
A Journey to Antarctica’s Doomsday Glacier
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The Big Melt
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Narrated by:
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Jeff Goodell
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By:
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Jeff Goodell
About this listen
In The Big Melt, Rolling Stone contributing editor and leading environmental journalist Jeff Goodell takes the listener up close and personal to one of the world’s most remote locations—Western Antarctica—and to the foot of the staggeringly important Thwaites Glacier.
Join Goodell aboard the Nathaniel B. Palmer, an ice-capable research ship, on its unprecedented journey to study the effects of climate change on the Thwaites Glacier. Get to know why scientists are studying this glacier and discover the chilling facts that make this sheet of ice a real ticking time bomb of climate change—no matter where you live on the planet.
Mr. Goodell’s spirited reporting and narration is augmented with audio recordings courtesy of reporter Carolyn Beeler from the public radio program The World, providing listeners with an incredible sense of what Antarctica sounds like. There are also keen and fascinating insights into the day-to-day workings of a research ship speeding toward one of the fiercest places on earth.
"The Big Melt" phenomenon has shattering, real consequences for all of us. This Audible Original is produced with Rolling Stone in conjunction with Columbia Journalism Review’s Covering Climate Change initiative.
Cover art photo credit: Michael Martin/laif/Redux
©2019 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC.Our favorite moments from The Big Melt
- The Big Melt
- Sea levels are changing.
- The Big Melt
- The world of ice
- The Big Melt
- Flying penguins
- The Big Melt
- Let them eat cake.
"This should be required reading for everyone, whether climate-concerned or in climate change denial—an exceedingly interesting and topical book."
—Brian H., Audible Listener
About the Creator and Performer
Jeff Goodell’s most recent book, The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World, was a New York Times Critics Top Book of 2017 as well as one of The Washington Post's 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction in 2017. He is the author of five previous books, including Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America’s Energy Future. He is a Contributing Editor at Rolling Stone, where he has covered climate change for more than a decade. As a commentator on energy and climate issues, he has appeared on NPR, MSNBC, CNN, CNBC, ABC, NBC, Fox News and The Oprah Winfrey Show. He was a 2016-2017 fellow at New America and is currently a Senior Fellow at Atlantic Council.
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What listeners say about The Big Melt
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 03-05-23
Informative
Enjoyed this very much. Informative and really makes you think about all the work that’s going into the research and what we can look forward to if we don’t make changes.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- F. McClamrock
- 01-10-22
Excellent new Antarctica documentary
Scientific crew visited the melting glaciers in western Antarctica and document how fast they are melting and breaking apart. Most of the worlds coastal cities could be submerged if this is allowed to continue, hopefully their research will change minds and develop a solution.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Brian Hays
- 10-30-19
Eye Opener
This should be required reading for everyone., whether climate concerned or climate change denial. The author isn’t the best choice to narrate, as his voice is relatively flat - use specialists if you aren’t one. But an exceedingly interesting and topical book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- starling01
- 11-10-19
Haunting and Frightening and Beautifully Told
The prose is gorgeous, the subject matter both terrifying and wonderous, and the detail and research on the topic fabulous. It's hard to grieve for some of those will be devastated and impossible to forgive those who deny the relentless future for personal gain. Jeff, I hope you will continue and you really do have a wonderful speaking voice. This is truly good. Thank you for the time and effort and personal sacrifice you endured to give this to us.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Antonio L. Quintanilla
- 04-12-21
A direct experience
Goodwill bring us to face to face with the scientists and the evidence and some of the consequences of climate change induced sea level rise. It is a valuable experience that most of us do not have and need to appreciate to be intelligent about the climate crisis.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nancy LaPlaca
- 01-31-22
Another great book from Jeff Goodell
Yet another excellent book by Jeff Goodell, one of the most important chroniclers of climate change today. This story about researching the Thwaites glacier is incredibly important, And deserves the name that Jeff gave it, the doomsday glacier. I have been working on climate change issues for 15 years now, fighting stupidity from clean coal to carbon sequestration, and the developments and Thwaites glacier will affect every person on Earth, from now on. Period full stop. Read. This. Book.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- chris
- 02-04-24
You either get it or you don’t.
I didn’t know how close we are to a catastrophic sea level rise and how much rides on us take climate action now. Jeff Goodell’s remarkable storytelling and appreciation of nature, of seals and seabirds, and of scientists makes it a book you don’t want to put down. I’ve ordered the rest of Jeff’s books. One suggestion: he mentions the menu a few times: bacon here and ribs there. Leo Tolstoy said you either get it or you don’t wet animals. I don’t think Jeff gets it yet on food emissions and how pigs should be honoured as much as your dog or the intelligent seals he has the privilege to meet. I hope Jeff’s next book is on the need to transition to a plant based food system. A third of the ghg emissions come from food and animal farming is a leading cause of the transgression of all nine planetary boundaries. We need a plant based treaty.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Absidy
- 01-25-24
The Water Will Come We Won’t Be Prepared
The story was well narrated and provides us with a not so distant future of things to come. If we ignore this prediction, if we don’t change our ways the world will once again become a whole ocean where will be at the bottom.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- MGGGK9
- 07-28-22
Decent reporting
Not really a book about Antarctica, which is what I was looking for. Some good information on climate change, the horrors to come, and odd noises without context. Good reporting and well read, but not exactly interesting.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Michael
- 06-28-21
Very enlightening, very disappointing
It is interesting to know that one can obtain a BA in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MFA in Fiction Writing from Columbia University with an adolescent vocabulary and the apathetic usage of words as presented in this audio book. Unfortunately, books such as this provide abundant fuel for those who deny climate change. As an Antarctica researcher, I was disappointed about how little of this book is concerned with Antarctica or the Thwaites Glacier.
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