Description
Discover the urgent tale of the Colorado River in this compelling trade paperback by bestselling author Wade Davis. As a long-time National Geographic Explorer, Davis masterfully intertwines a love song and a heartfelt plea for conservation, showcasing the peril that America's most iconic river faces today. With ISBN 9781778401428, this BRAND NEW 2024 release from Greystone Books highlights the dramatic impact of human intervention on the Colorado River's ecosystems, water quality, and wildlife. Once renowned for its natural beauty, the Colorado is now one of the world’s most regulated river systems, critically supplying over 25 million people in cities like Las Vegas, Tucson, and San Diego. Davis’s narrative unfolds the historical journey of this river, tracing its transformation from a vibrant waterway into a mere shadow of its former self. Rich with descriptive passages, this book invites readers to reflect on our responsibility toward the environment and consider the implications of climate change on our vital water sources. As the narrative calls us to action, it meticulously details the consequences of drought, damming, and unsustainable water management practices. Readers will find themselves captivated by the blend of thrilling adventure and profound lament, urging them to join the movement for the revival of the Colorado River. Dive into this enlightening exploration today, and be part of the conversation to ensure a sustainable future for one of America's natural treasures. _Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled._
Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled.
Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9781778401428
Format: Trade paperback (US)
Year: 2024
Publisher: Greystone Books
Description:
At a time when the Colorado River and all those who depend on it are in peril, this urgent book offers "both a love song and a paean of regret to America's most spectacular river" (Denver Post) and "a plea to save [it] before it’s too late" (The Wall Street Journal).
From bestselling author, long-time former National Geographic Explorer, and anthropologist Wade Davis comes the story of America’s Nile: how it once flowed freely and how human intervention has left it near exhaustion, altering the water temperature, volume, local species, and shoreline of the river Theodore Roosevelt once urged us to "leave it as it is."
Plugged by no fewer than twenty-five dams, the Colorado is the world’s most regulated river drainage, providing most of the water supply of Las Vegas, Tucson, and San Diego, and much of the power and water of Los Angeles and Phoenix, cities that are home to more than 25 million people. If it ceased flowing, the water held in its reservoirs might hold out for three to four years, but after that it would be necessary to abandon most of southern California and Arizona, and much of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. For the entire American Southwest, the Colorado is indeed the river of life, which makes it all the more tragic and ironic that by the time it approaches its final destination, it has been reduced to a shadow upon the sand, its delta dry and deserted, its flow a toxic trickle seeping into the sea.
Yet despite more than a century of human interference, Davis writes, the splendor of the Colorado lives on in the river’s remaining wild rapids, quiet pools, and sweep
Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled.
Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9781778401428
Format: Trade paperback (US)
Year: 2024
Publisher: Greystone Books
Description:
At a time when the Colorado River and all those who depend on it are in peril, this urgent book offers "both a love song and a paean of regret to America's most spectacular river" (Denver Post) and "a plea to save [it] before it’s too late" (The Wall Street Journal).
From bestselling author, long-time former National Geographic Explorer, and anthropologist Wade Davis comes the story of America’s Nile: how it once flowed freely and how human intervention has left it near exhaustion, altering the water temperature, volume, local species, and shoreline of the river Theodore Roosevelt once urged us to "leave it as it is."
Plugged by no fewer than twenty-five dams, the Colorado is the world’s most regulated river drainage, providing most of the water supply of Las Vegas, Tucson, and San Diego, and much of the power and water of Los Angeles and Phoenix, cities that are home to more than 25 million people. If it ceased flowing, the water held in its reservoirs might hold out for three to four years, but after that it would be necessary to abandon most of southern California and Arizona, and much of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. For the entire American Southwest, the Colorado is indeed the river of life, which makes it all the more tragic and ironic that by the time it approaches its final destination, it has been reduced to a shadow upon the sand, its delta dry and deserted, its flow a toxic trickle seeping into the sea.
Yet despite more than a century of human interference, Davis writes, the splendor of the Colorado lives on in the river’s remaining wild rapids, quiet pools, and sweep