When the rivers run dry : water, the defining crisis of the twenty-first century

1. The human sponge -- 2. North America : crossing the Rio Grande -- 3. Riding the water cycle -- 4. Pakistan : the unhappy valley -- 5. India : a colossal anarchy -- 6. Halliburton's job for Qaddafi -- 7. The world's largest mass poisoning -- 8. Mirages -- 9. The common wealth -- 10. Lake Chad : tragedy of the floodplains -- 11. Seas of death -- 12. Mekong : feel of the pulse -- 13. China : the hanging river -- 14. Changing climate -- 15. Wonders of the world -- 16. Sun, silt, and stagnant ponds -- 17. Dams that cause floods -- 18. Palestine : poisoning the wells of peace -- 19. The first modern water war -- 20. Swords of Damocles -- 21. Elisha's spring and the mysteries of Angkor -- 22. Losing the west -- 23. Aral sea : the end of the world -- 24. Taking the water to the people -- 25. Sewage on tap -- 26. Closed basins and closed minds -- 27. Out of thin air -- 28. Catch the rain -- 29. On the grapevine -- 30. Unfailing springs -- 31. Learning to love the floods -- 32. Freeing Saddam's captives -- 33. More crop per drop -- 34. Water ethics.;It was with the Colorado River that engineers first learned to control great rivers. But now the Colorado's reservoirs are two-thirds empty. Great rivers like the Indus and the Nile, the Rio Grande and the Yellow River are running on empty. And economists say that by 2025, water scarcity will cut global food production by more than the current U.S. grain harvest. Veteran science correspondent Fred Pearce traveled to more than thirty countries while researching When the Rivers Run Dry; it is our most complete portrait yet of the growing world water crisis. Deftly weaving together the complicated scientific, economic, and historical dimensions of the crisis, he shows us its complex origins, from waste to wrong-headed engineering projects to high-yield crop varieties that have kept developing countries from starvation but are now emptying their water reserves. And Pearce's vivid reportage reveals the personal stories behind failing rivers, barren fields, desertification, water wars, floods, and even the death of cultures. Finally, Pearce argues that the solution to the growing worldwide water shortage is not more and bigger dams but greater efficiency and a new water ethic based on managing the water cycle for maximum social benefit rather than narrow self-interest.

In this groundbreaking book, veteran science correspondent Fred Pearce travels to more than thirty countries to examine the current state of crucial water sources. Deftly weaving together the complicated scientific, economic, and historic dimensions of the world water crisis, he provides our most complete portrait yet of this growing danger and its ramifications for us all.

“A strong—and scary—case that a worldwide water shortage is the most fearful looming environmental crisis. With a drumbeat of facts both horrific (thousands of wells in India and Bangladesh are poisoned by fluoride and arsenic) and fascinating (it takes 20 tons of water to make one pound of coffee), the former New Scientist news editor documents a ‘kind of cataclysm’ already affecting many of the world’s great rivers.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Oil we can replace. Water we can’t—which is why this book is both so ominous and so important.” —Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

“An enriching and farsighted work.” —Jai Singh, San Francisco Chronicle

“Pearce cogently presents the alarming ways in which this ecological emergency is affecting population centers, human health, food production, wildlife habitats, and species viability. Having crisscrossed the globe to research the economic, scientific, cultural, and political causes and ramifications of this under publicized tragedy, Pearce’s powerful imagery, penetrating analyses, and passionate advocacy make this required reading for environmental proponents and civic leaders everywhere.” —Booklist

“If you want to quickly get up to date on climate change and its consequences, I recommend With Speed and Violence: Why Scientists Fear Tipping Points in Climate Change. If you can read only one book on climate change, this is it.” —Lester Brown, president, Earth Policy Institute

“. . . perhaps it is time for you to spend some time with Fred Pearce and his wonderful When the Rivers Run Dry.” —Daily Kos, July Review

Fred Pearce has been writing about water issues for over twenty years. A former news editor at New Scientist and currently its environment and development consultant, he has also written for Audubon, Popular Science, Time, the Boston Globe, and Natural History. His books include With Speed and Violence, Turning Up the Heat, and Deep Jungle.

Throughout history, rivers have been our foremost source of fresh water both for agriculture and for individual consumption, but now economists say that by 2025 water scarcity will cut global food production by more than the current U.S. grain harvest. In this groundbreaking book, veteran science correspondent Fred Pearce focuses on the dire state of the world's rivers to provide our most complete portrait yet of the growing world water crisis and its ramifications for us all.

Pearce traveled to more than thirty countries while researching When the Rivers Run Dry, examining the current state of crucial water sources like the Indus River in Pakistan, the Colorado River in the United States, and the Yellow and Yangzte rivers in China. Pearce deftly weaves together the complicated 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. He reveals the most daunting water issues we face today, among them the threat of flooding in China's Yellow River, where rising silt levels will prevent dykes from containing floodwaters; the impoverishment of Pakistan's Sindh, a once-fertile farming valley now destroyed by the 14 million tons of salt that the much-depleted Indus deposits annually on the land but cannot remove; the disappearing Colorado River, whose reservoirs were once the lifeblood of seven states but which could dry up as soon as 2007; and the poisoned springs of Palestine and the Jordan River, where Israeli control of the water supply has only fed conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

The situation is dire, but not without remedy. Pearce argues that the solution to the growing worldwide water shortage is not more and bigger dams but greater efficiency and a new water ethic based on managing the water cycle for maximum social benefit rather than narrow self-interest.

In this groundbreaking book, veteran science correspondent Fred Pearce travels to more than thirty countries to examine the current state of crucial water sources. Deftly weaving together the complicated scientific, economic, and historic dimensions of the world water crisis, he provides our most complete portrait yet of this growing danger and its ramifications for us all. Named as one of the Top 50 Sustainability Books by University of Cambridges Programme for Sustainability Leadership and Greenleaf Publishing. Traveling to more than thirty countries to define the scientific, economic, and historical dimensions of the water crisis, offers a solution based on managing the water cycle for the maximum social good, rather than pure self-interest.