Antarctica fools you into thinking you are safe, that appearances are reality. Antarctica is not what she seems. Since he was thirteen years old, author John Barells life-longand life-enrichingdream has been to sail to Antarctica and explore its wild and expansive territories. Quest for Antarctica: A Journey of Wonder and Discovery recounts Barells Antarctic adventure that is not only captivating but also educational. Fostered by knowing Americas foremost polar explorer, Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, and with strong family support, Barells dream continues south to McMurdo Sound and to the two-mile thick polar plateau. Follow Barells expeditions, including becoming a teacher, and learn how all of the survival lessons of Antarctica apply to striving for our own goals and being successful.

"Originally published in hardcover in the United States as Antarctica 2041: my quest to save the earth's last wilderness by Broadway Books"--T.p verso.

Meet Chris and Marty—a married couple working on their careers, raising their only child, and chasing big adventures. At midlife, they suddenly find themselves weighing the responsibility of parenthood against the possibility of one more grand adventure, before their aging bodies and the warming continent of Antarctica further degrade. They ultimately decide it’s time to pursue their biggest dream: Ski 570 miles from the edge of Antarctica to the South Pole. With no guide or resupply. From the lush Pacific Northwest to the barren landscape of Antarctica, Chris and Marty embark on one of the hardest challenges on the planet. After three years of intense planning and training, including meticulous preparations for the care of their twelve-year-old son, they are ready. Experience a boundless white wonderland like no other on earth. Encounter life-threatening dangers lurking in the bitter cold. Feel the intensity of 220-pound sleds, relentless wind, 40-below temperatures, and mind-numbing isolation. This is not an average couples getaway. Chris and Marty go where few others have dared on the way to making history—stretching their bodies, minds, and marriage to the limit in the process. Riveting and inspiring, The Expedition is about the power of family and community, the adventurous spirit that dwells within us all, and breaking through to feel fully alive.

An activist and adventurer makes predictions about imminent environmental dangers associated with the 2041 expiration of an international treaty protecting Antarctica and discusses what can be done to prevent specific problems.

The story of Captain Scott's last Antarctic expedition is one of the greatest adventure stories ever told. Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Lieutenant Henry Bowers, Petty Officer Edgar Evans, Captain Lawrence Oates, and Dr Edward Wilson all died on the return trek from the South Pole, starved and frozen, only eleven miles from a supply camp. Recent decades have seen controversy rage over whether Scott was the last of a line of great Victorian explorers, intent on discovering uncharted lands, or a hopeless incompetent driven by personal ambition. Rejecting the stereotypes, Max Jones reveals a complex figure, a product of the passions and preoccupations of an imperial age.

Adventurer turned environmentalist Robert Swan illuminates the perils facing the planet come 2041—the year when the international treaty protecting Antarctica is up for review—and the many steps that can be taken to avoid environmental calamity. In 1985, when Robert Swan walked across Antarctica, the fragile polar environment was not high in his mind. But upon his return, the earth’s perilous state became personal: Robert’s ice-blue eyes were singed a pale gray, a result of being exposed to the sun’s rays passing unfiltered through the depleted ozone layer. At this moment, his commitment to preserving the environment was born, and in Antarctica 2041 Swan details his journey to awareness, and his firm belief that humans can reverse the harm done to the planet thus far, and secure its future for generations to come. Despite the dire warnings Swan raises in Antarctica 2041—exponentially high greenhouse-gas levels; rising seas; massive species extinction—he says there is much we can do to avert looming disaster. Ultimately an upbeat call to action, his book provides the information people need to understand the world’s crisis, and the tools they need to combat it, ultimately showing us all that saving Antarctica amounts to saving ourselves.