" . . . a one-of-a-kind treasure."—Library Journal ReviewsWhat if rivers could talk and tell their stories? What would they tell us? In What Rivers Know, artist Basia Irland insinuates herself as the voice of major waterways as they struggle to navigate their changing relationships with humans and climate change. By hearing what the rivers have to say, Irland asserts we can attune ourselves to the “braided fusion of energies” in our natural world,...

"Nothing is more important to life than water, and no one knows water better than Sandra Postel. Replenish is a wise, sobering, but ultimately hopeful book." —Elizabeth Kolbert**"Remarkable." —New York Times Book Review"Clear-eyed treatise...Postel makes her case eloquently." —Booklist, starred review**"An informative, purposeful argument." —KirkusWe have disrupted the natural water cycle ...

For decades now we have wasted and mismanaged the world?s water supplies. Today, 27 countries are short of water, a quarter of the world?s population has no safe water, 46 per cent have no proper sanitation and each year four million children die of water-borne diseases. As most of the world?s major river systems cross several national boundaries, the scope disputes and the threat to international security is becoming more and more real.In The Last Oasis, Sandra Postel examines the...

Life itself as well as the entire human economy depends on goods and services provided by earth's natural systems. The processes of cleansing, recycling, and renewal, along with goods such as seafood, forage, and timber, are worth many trillions of dollars annually, and nothing could live without them. Yet growing human impacts on the environment are profoundly disrupting the functioning of natural systems and imperiling the delivery of these services.Nature's Services brings toget...

Through a series of essays by leading demographers, environmentalists and reproductive health advocates, A Pivotal Moment offers a new perspective on the complex connection between population dynamics and environmental quality. It presents the latest research on the relationship between population growth and climate change, ecosystem health and other environmental issues. It surveys the new demographic landscape—in which population growth rates have fallen, but human numbers continue to in...

The conventional approach to river protection has focused on water quality and maintaining some "minimum" flow that was thought necessary to ensure the viability of a river. In recent years, however, scientific research has underscored the idea that the ecological health of a river system depends not on a minimum amount of water at any one time but on the naturally variable quantity and timing of flows throughout the year.In Rivers for Life, leading water experts Sandra Po...

A journey through time and around the world to uncover water's true nature, and how it can help us adapt to climate change.Trouble with water – increasingly frequent, extreme floods and droughts – is one of the first obvious signs of climate change. Meanwhile, urban sprawl, industrial agriculture and engineered water infrastructure are making things worse. As our control attempts fail, we are forced to recognize an eternal truth: sooner or later, water always wins....

From acclaimed agrarian activist and ethnobotanist Gary Paul Nabhan, a profoundly inspiring account of interspecies belonging, collaborative conservation, and the sacred work of caring for the earth.“I went looking for water in the desert and found that the world was teaching me how to listen.”Celebrated as a “world visionary” (Utne Reader) and our “lyrical poet of biodiversity” (Mother Jones), Gary Paul Nabhan has authored dozens of books...

First brought to the attention of the world in 1888, Mesa Verde has astonished and mesmerized countless visitors ever since. Spectacular cliff-side and mesa top dwellings reveal centuries of pre-columbian culture. Susan Lamb's evocative essays reveal and explain the story of this fascinationg American treasure.

In this provocative walking meditation, writer and former park ranger William Tweed takes us to California’s spectacular High Sierra to discover a new vision for our national parks as they approach their 100th anniversary. Tweed, who worked among the Sierra Nevada’s big peaks and big trees for more than thirty years, has now hiked more than 200 miles along California’s John Muir Trail in a personal search for answers: How do we address the climate change we are seeing even now—in melting g...

Death Valley, as most people know, is the driest and hottest region of the United States. It is also one of the lowest regions in the world. In spite of this unattractive description, it does not deter almost a million tourists from visiting this region every year. The beauty of the Valley is its vastness, a seemingly endless landscape of mountains and canyons in a wide range of elevations, in shades of pink to red and tan to orange all framed most of the time by a clear blue sky.

As the Smithsonian Institution's twelfth Secretary, Dr. G. Wayne Clough traveled extensively to connect with researchers and gain a better understanding of the scope of the Institution's work. While the Smithsonian is comprised of nineteen museums and galleries, a National Zoological Park, and nine research facilities, it also has a research presence in more than one hundred countries.During his six years as secretary, Dr. Clough kept a detailed journal of his experiences and disco...