A world of rivers : environmental change on ten of the world's great rivers / Ellen Wohl.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wohl, Ellen E., 1962-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rivers.

Nature--Effect of human beings on.

Nature.

Global environmental change.

Stream health.

Stream ecology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (368 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Chicago ; London : University of Chicago Press, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Preface

1. A Round River

2. The Amazon: Rivers of Blushing Dolphins

3. The Ob: Killing Grandmother

4. The Nile: Lifeline in the Desert

5. The Danube: Remnants of Beauty

6. The Ganges: Eternally Pure?

7. The Mississippi: Once and Future River

8. The Murray-Darling: Stumbling in the Waltz

9. The Congo: River That Swallows All Rivers

10. The Chang Jiang: Bridling a Dragon

11. The Mackenzie: River on the Brink

12. An Ebbing Flow

Selected Bibliographic Sources

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612902147

9781282902145

1282902148

9780226904801

0226904806

OCLC:

690177774