Although it may seem barren, Antarctica is a vital -- and increasingly threatened -- part of the Earth's ecosystem. "The Ferocious Summer" is writer Meredith Hooper's firsthand account of the effects of climate change on this frozen continent. For one summer, Hooper lived and worked with scientists observing the summer population of Adelie penguins nesting at Palmer Station, the smallest of America's three Antarctic research bases. For Hooper, Palmer's penguins offered a way to understand the complex business of the Earth's changing climate. The Antarctic Peninsula was warming fast. Why? What were scientists doing to understand it? The daily lives of Palmer's few thousand Adelie penguins were becoming key evidence, and pieces of the climate change jigsaw began falling into place. Based on daily diaries, acute personal observations, and interviews with Antarctica's international community of researchers, this book is a fascinating and alarming report from the frontlines of global warming.