Packed with information, grounded in the latest science, lively in its writing, illustrated throughout, Meltdown gives readers an eye-opening overview of glaciers and how important they are. We learn how glaciers were formed, how they move and carve the landscape, how they're replenished, and how scientists study them. We discover secrets of earth's climate history hidden deep in a glacier's core - and understand the delicate ecosystem of animals and plants that thrive in their frigid worlds, from keystone species like salmon to curiosities like ice worms. And we learn how climate change is threatening the glaciers, in turn, threatening all the benefits they bring the planet - and all the positive steps readers can take to become climate activists, reduce their carbon footprint, and save the glaciers.