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Exposure by
"For Erin Brockovich fans, a David vs. Goliath tale with a twist." --The New York Times Book Review The story that inspired the major motion picture Dark Waters, starring Mark Ruffalo as Robert Bilott. In 1998, Rob Bilott began a legal battle against DuPont that would consume the next twenty years of his life, uncovering the worst case of environmental contamination in modern history and a corporate cover-up that put the health of hundreds of thousands of people at risk. Representing a single farmer who was convinced the creek on his property had been poisoned by runoff from a nearby DuPont landfill, Rob ultimately discovers the truth about PFAS--unregulated, toxic chemicals used in the manufacturing of Teflon and a host of other household goods. DuPont's own scientists had issued internal warnings for years about the harmful effects of PFAS on human health, but the company continued to allow these chemicals to leach into public drinking water. Until Rob forced them to face the consequences. Exposure is an unforgettable legal drama about malice and manipulation, the failings of environmental regulation, and one lawyer's quest to expose the truth about this previously unknown--and still unregulated--chemical that presents one of the greatest human health crises of the 21st century.
Call Number: HD9651.9.D8 B55 2019
A Thirsty Land by
As a changing climate threatens the whole country with deeper droughts and more furious floods that put ever more people and property at risk, Texas has become a bellwether state for water debates. Will there be enough water for everyone? Is there the will to take the steps necessary to defend ourselves against the sea? Is it in the nature of Americans to adapt to nature in flux? The most comprehensive--and comprehensible--book on contemporary water issues, A Thirsty Land delves deep into the challenges faced not just by Texas but by the nation as a whole, as we struggle to find a way to balance the changing forces of nature with our own ever-expanding needs. Part history, part science, part adventure story, and part travelogue, this book puts a human face on the struggle to master that most precious and capricious of resources, water. Seamus McGraw goes to the taproots, talking to farmers, ranchers, businesspeople, and citizen activists, as well as to politicians and government employees. Their stories provide chilling evidence that Texas--and indeed the nation--is not ready for the next devastating drought, the next catastrophic flood. Ultimately, however, A Thirsty Land delivers hope. This deep dive into one of the most vexing challenges facing Texas and the nation offers glimpses of the way forward in the untapped opportunities that water also presents.
Call Number: HD1694.T4 M34 2018
The Water Will Come by
What if Atlantis wasn't a myth, but an early precursor to a new age of great flooding? Across the globe, scientists and civilians alike are noticing rapidly rising sea levels, and higher and higher tides pushing more water directly into the places we live, from our most vibrant, historic cities to our last remaining traditional coastal villages. With each crack in the great ice sheets of the Arctic and Antarctica, and each tick upwards of Earth's thermometer, we are moving closer to the brink of broad disaster. By century's end, hundreds of millions of people will be retreating from the world's shores as our coasts become inundated and our landscapes transformed. From island nations to the world's major cities, coastal regions will disappear. Engineering projects to hold back the water are bold and may buy some time. Yet despite international efforts and tireless research, there is no permanent solution-no barriers to erect or walls to build-that will protect us in the end from the drowning of the world as we know it. The Water Will Come is the definitive account of the coming water, why and how this will happen, and what it will all mean. As he travels across twelve countries and reports from the front lines, acclaimed journalist Jeff Goodell employs fact, science, and first-person, on-the-ground journalism to show vivid scenes from what already is becoming a water world. "An immersive, mildly gonzo and depressingly well-timed book about the drenching effects of global warming, and a powerful reminder that we can bury our heads in the sand about climate change for only so long before the sand itself disappears." (Jennifer Senior, New York Times)
Call Number: GC89 .G66 2017
Your Water Footprint by
The average American lifestyle is kept afloat by about 2,000 gallons of H2O a day. The numbers are shocking. Your Water Footprint reveals the true cost of our lifestyle. A "water footprint" is the amount of fresh water used to produce the goods and services we consume, including growing, harvesting, packaging, and shipping. From the foods we eat to the clothes we wear to the books we read and the music we listen to, all of it costs more than what we pay at the check-out. The 125 footprint facts in this book show the true cost of our lifestyle and what it is doing to Earth, including draining it dry. The "Virtual Water Concept" shows the amount of water used in human activities. Presented in clever, understandable graphics, Your Water Footprint raises readers' awareness of how much water is used to make the things we use, consume and grow. What we put on our dinner table has a very high cost. Nearly 95 percent of our water footprint is hidden in the food we eat: One pound of lettuce costs 15 gallons of freshwater; mango 190 gallons; avocado 220 gallons; tofu 244 gallons; rice 403 gallons; olives 522 gallons; pork 1,630 gallons; butter 2,044 gallons; chocolate 2,847 gallons; and beef 2,500 to 5,000 gallons. A slice of bread costs 10 gallons but if you eat it with a slice of cheese, it takes another 13 gallons. One glass of beer takes 20 gallons of water, and just one standard cup of tea costs 120 same-sized cups of water. A cotton t-shirt takes almost as much water as beef, a pair of jeans even more. In fact, all aspects of our daily lives require water in some way, shape or form. The saying that "nothing is free" applies more to water than anything else we consume, considering just three percent of the world's water is drinkable and that we are using more of it than ever before. Factor in climate change, population growth and pollution and we have an unsustainable situation. Many experts predict dire water shortages if we continue on our current path. Your Water Footprint is riveting. Consumers of all ages will be stunned by what it reveals. It is an excellent reference and an exciting way to introduce the resource-consumption equation to students.
Call Number: TD388 .L36 2014
Online Articles
- The Water Footprint of an American
Nature Conservancy
Online Articles
- This Is How Much Water You Waste When You Throw Away Food
Smithsonian, November 16, 2015
Formulate a Hypothesis
Online From CCBC Libraries
Uncharted Waters by
The 21st century will witness the collision of two powerful forces - burgeoning population growth, together with a changing climate. With population growth, water scarcity will proliferate to new areas across the globe. And with climate change, rainfall will become more fickle, with longer and deeper periods of droughts and deluges. This report presents new evidence to advance understanding on how rainfall shocks coupled with water scarcity, impacts farms, firms, and families. On farms, the largest consumers of water in the world, impacts are channeled from declining yields to changing landscapes. In cities, water extremes especially when combined with unreliable infrastructure can stall firm production, sales, and revenue. At the center of this are families, who feel the impacts of this uncertainty on their incomes, jobs, and long-term health and welfare. Although a rainfall shock may be fleeting, its consequences can become permanent and shape the destiny of those who experience it.Pursuing business as usual will lead many countries down a 'parched path' where droughts shape destinies. Avoiding this misery in slow motion will call for fundamental changes to water policy around the globe. Building resilience to rainfall variability will require using different policy instruments to address the multifaceted nature of water. A key message of this report is that water has multiple economic attributes, each of which entail distinct policy responses. If water is not managed more prudently--from source, to tap, and back to source--the crises observed today will become the catastrophes of tomorrow.
Publication Date: 2017
Water Planet by
Through case studies, opposing viewpoints, and primary documents, this reference work examines the environmental and sustainability issues regarding water as well as how water is an intrinsic part of human culture. Every culture and ecosystem on earth depends on water. As the world's climate changes, human culture is increasingly threatened by the seemingly opposite problems of having too little clean, potable water and "having too much water"--e.g., flooding, melting polar ice caps, and rising sea levels. What are the solutions that humanity must collectively pursue to protect our ability to flourish on planet earth? Water Planet: The Culture, Politics, Economics, and Sustainability of Water on Earth offers an unprecedented examination of the critical subject of water sustainability. Its essays, viewpoints, case studies, and documents show how this vital resource that many in first-world countries take for granted is intricately woven into not only basic human survival but also cultural, political, and economic stability. Readers will learn about topics such as flooding and drought; the growing problem of water pollution; the connections between water and gender, including gender equity and gender aspects of water ownership; the effects of global temperature changes on the water supply; concerns regarding fishing and overfishing; water security; and sustainable water management. * Presents a variety of resources and multidisciplinary perspectives on water in a single book * Offers opposing viewpoints on current world water issues that enable readers to consider these problems from political, cultural, economic, and scientific vantage points * Documents how some practical necessities regarding our global water problems are in conflict with established cultural tradition and values
Publication Date: 2016
The Climate Nexus by
Secure supplies of water, food and energy are essential to human dignity and well-being around the globe. Their vitality is dependent on healthy ecosystems supporting thriving biodiversity. All four elements are inter-related in that actions to govern one will automatically affect the others -- known as the Nexus. Global demand for the first three elements is increasing due to population growth and rising per capital incomes in developing countries, with steadily worsening results for the fourth. The Nexus elements are also subject to increasing pressures from climate disruption in the form of more frequent and severe flooding, droughts, storms, pest outbreaks, and extreme heat. Nature's capacity to moderate these impacts is also being eroded by rapid, widespread land use development and associated pollution. The combination of increasing demand, decreasing supplies, and rapidly changing hydro-climatic conditions at all points of the Nexus requires transformative policy responses that encompass economy, equity, social justice, fairness, and the environment. The Climate Nexus outlines these challenges and offers a pathway to resolving them.
Publication Date: 2016
The Global Water Crisis by
How is water scarcity becoming a serious problem worldwide--including in the United States? This book provides a broad overview of water, sanitation, and hygiene problems faced by both developing and developed nations around the globe and suggests how these problems can be solved by imaginative and innovative thinking. Human society depends on sufficient clean water. In many parts of the world, however, this most basic commodity is in very short supply. Even in developed, first-world nations, climate change and other factors have begun to create alarming water supply issues. The Global Water Crisis: A Reference Handbook provides a detailed overview of this important topic, enabling readers to understand the nature of the world's water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) problems and to know what resources are best for conducting their own research on the topic. The first chapter of the book provides the historical background information pertaining to the world's water and sanitation problems; the second chapter documents the problems, explores the issues, and presents potential solutions for understanding the nature of WASH issues. The other sections provide the needed resources for readers to study the issue of the global water crisis further: perspective essays, primary documents, biographical profiles, data and documents, an extended annotated bibliography, a chronology, and a glossary. * Provides readers with an understanding of the severity of the water scarcity in the world today * Explains the nature of various sanitation issues around the world, how they arise, the problems for which they are responsible, and some possible solutions * Outlines the reasons that droughts are becoming a more serious problem in many parts of the world and what can be done to deal with these water shortages * Highlights the new, specialized problems concerning water supply raised by climate change
Publication Date: 2016
The Atlas of Water by
Climate change, population increase, and the demands made by the growing number of people adopting urban lifestyles and western diets threaten the world's supply of freshwater, edging us closer to a global water crisis, with dire implications for agriculture, the economy, the environment, and human health. Completely revised and updated, The Atlas of Water is a compelling visual guide to the state of this life-sustaining resource. Using vivid graphics, maps, and charts, it explores the complex human interaction with water around the world. This vibrant atlas addresses all the pressing issues concerning water, from water shortages and excessive demand, to dams, pollution, and privatization, all considered in terms of the growing threat of an increasingly unpredictable climate. It also outlines critical tools for managing water, providing safe access to water, and preserving the future of the world's water supply.
Publication Date: 2016
Global Water Information
- Aquastat
The Global Water Information System of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Databases
- ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
Articles on any subject. This is a good place to start.
- Environment Complete This link opens in a new window
Articles about ecology, energy, natural resources, science, technology, law, public policy, and social impacts.
