Overview
A new edition of the veteran science writer’s groundbreaking work on the world’s water crisis, featuring all-new reporting from the most recent global flashpoints
Throughout history, rivers have been our foremost source of fresh water for both agriculture and individual consumption, but looming water scarcity threatens to cut global food production and cause conflict and unrest. In this visionary book, Fred Pearce takes readers around the world on a tour of the world’s rivers to provide our most complete portrait yet of the growing global water crisis and its ramifications for us all. With vivid on-the-ground reporting, Pearce deftly weaves together the scientific, economic, and historic dimensions of the water crisis, showing us its complex origins–from waste to wrong-headed engineering projects to high-yield crop varieties that have saved developing countries from starvation but are now emptying their water reserves. Pearce argues that the solution to the growing worldwide water shortage is more efficiency and a new water ethic based on managing the water cycle for maximum social benefit rather than narrow self-interest.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780807054901 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Beacon Press |
| Publication date: | 08/28/2018 |
| Sold by: | Penguin Random House Publisher Services |
| Format: | NOOK Book |
| Pages: | 328 |
| Sales rank: | 667,855 |
| File size: | 4 MB |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Abbreviations
Introduction: The Power of a River
I.?When the rivers run dry . . . the poor take to the road
1. The Human Sponge
2. Lake Chad
3. Sahel
4. Riding the Water Cycle
II.?When the rivers run dry . . . America loses the West
5. Rio Grande
6. Colorado
7. California
III.?When the rivers run dry . . . the wet places die
8. Mekong
9. Seas of Death
10. England
IV.?When the rivers run dry . . . we mine our children?s water
11. India
12. Overpumping the World
13. Bangladesh
V.?When the rivers run dry . . . engineers pour concrete
14. Wonders of the World
15. The New Dam Era
16. Sun, Silt, and Stagnant Ponds
VI.?When the rivers run dry . . . floods may not be far behind
17. China
18. Unleashing the River Dragon
19. Changing Climate
VII.?When the rivers run dry . . . we go to war over water
20. Honduras
21. Palestine
22. River Jordan
23. Egypt
24. Iraq
25. Mesopotamia
26. Tibet
VIII.?When the rivers run dry . . . civilizations fall
27. Elisha?s Spring and the Riddle of Angkor
28. Aral Sea
IX.?When the rivers run dry . . . we try to catch the rain
29. Harvesting the Monsoons
30. Oman
31. Iran
X.?When the rivers run dry . . . we go looking for new water
32. Taking the Water to the People
33. Singapore
34. Out of Thin Air
35. Seeding Clouds and Desalting the Sea
XI.?When the rivers run dry . . . we should go with the ?ow
36. Europe
37. Ganges and Mississippi
38. More Crop per Drop
39. Colombia
40. Water Ethics
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
