A World of Rivers: Environmental Change on Ten of the World's Great Rivers
By Ellen Wohl
3.5/5
()
About this ebook
Far from being the serene, natural streams of yore, modern rivers have been diverted, dammed, dumped in, and dried up, all in efforts to harness their power for human needs. But these rivers have also undergone environmental change. The old adage says you can’t step in the same river twice, and Ellen Wohl would agree—natural and synthetic change are so rapid on the world’s great waterways that rivers are transforming and disappearing right before our eyes.
A World of Rivers explores the confluence of human and environmental change on ten of the great rivers of the world. Ranging from the Murray-Darling in Australia and the Yellow River in China to Central Europe’s Danube and the United States’ Mississippi, the book journeys down the most important rivers in all corners of the globe. Wohl shows us how pollution, such as in the Ganges and in the Ob of Siberia, has affected biodiversity in the water. But rivers are also resilient, and Wohl stresses the importance of conservation and restoration to help reverse the effects of human carelessness and hubris.
What all these diverse rivers share is a critical role in shaping surrounding landscapes and biological communities, and Wohl’s book ultimately makes a strong case for the need to steward positive change in the world’s great rivers.
Related to A World of Rivers
Related ebooks
River Ecosystem Ecology: A Global Perspective Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlood Country: An Environmental History of the Murray-Darling Basin Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsContested Waters: An Environmental History of the Colorado River Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTaming the Flood: Rivers, Wetlands and the Centuries-Old Battle Against Flooding Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Geology of British Columbia: A Journey Through Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A River with a City Problem: A History of Brisbane Floods Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Where the River Flows: Scientific Reflections on Earth's Waterways Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Waves and Beaches: The Powerful Dynamics of Sea and Coast Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Peak Water: How We Built Civilisation on Water and Drained the World Dry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Historical Ecology Handbook: A Restorationist's Guide to Reference Ecosystems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEcological Restoration of Southwestern Ponderosa Pine Forests Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCreating and Restoring Wetlands: From Theory to Practice Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIntelligent Tinkering: Bridging the Gap between Science and Practice Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWater Follies: Groundwater Pumping and the Fate of America's Fresh Waters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Elementary Manual of New Zealand Entomology: Being an Introduction to the Study of Our Native Insects Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAtlantic Seashore Field Guide: Florida to Canada Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNature's Allies: Eight Conservationists Who Changed Our World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Plant Regeneration from Seeds: A Global Warming Perspective Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFrom Catchment Management to Managing River Basins: Science, Technology Choices, Institutions and Policy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRiver Futures: An Integrative Scientific Approach to River Repair Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGeomorphology and Volcanology of Costa Rica Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Coral Battleground Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFishes of the Great Basin: A Natural History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRiders on the Storm: The Climate Crisis and the Survival of Being Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFields and Streams: Stream Restoration, Neoliberalism, and the Future of Environmental Science Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStream and Watershed Restoration: A Guide to Restoring Riverine Processes and Habitats Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLake Nipigon: Where the Great Lakes Begin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Living Shore: Rediscovering a Lost World Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Finding Resilience: Change and Uncertainty in Nature and Society Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBirds of the Great Basin: A Natural History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Science & Mathematics For You
Outsmart Your Brain: Why Learning is Hard and How You Can Make It Easy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Activate Your Brain: How Understanding Your Brain Can Improve Your Work - and Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential--and Endangered Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Big Book of Hacks: 264 Amazing DIY Tech Projects Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Free Will Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dorito Effect: The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Letter to Liberals: Censorship and COVID: An Attack on Science and American Ideals Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Becoming Cliterate: Why Orgasm Equality Matters--And How to Get It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Metaphors We Live By Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Systems Thinker: Essential Thinking Skills For Solving Problems, Managing Chaos, Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Memory Craft: Improve Your Memory with the Most Powerful Methods in History Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/52084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fantastic Fungi: How Mushrooms Can Heal, Shift Consciousness, and Save the Planet Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hunt for the Skinwalker: Science Confronts the Unexplained at a Remote Ranch in Utah Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Stone Unturned: The True Story of the World's Premier Forensic Investigators Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Think Critically: Question, Analyze, Reflect, Debate. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Oppenheimer: The Tragic Intellect Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Psychology of Totalitarianism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for A World of Rivers
3 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Now this is a brilliant book. The style is lucid, and Ellen really manages to bring the rivers to life. She brings out so many fascinating aspects of rivers that I found this to be a book that is both enjoyable, and one that can be used as a reference.That rivers are complex ecosystems is something I always knew, but the world of complexity in rivers really comes to life with this book.I like her method of using the journey of a drop of water across the world. We, like rivers, are all connected. Brilliant. I am waiting for an updated edition!