The Death and Life of the Great Lakes
Dan Egan's The Death and Life of the Great Lakes is a nonfiction study of the environmental history and crisis of the Great Lakes. It follows the effects of invasive species, pollution, and development policy while asking what the waterways' future might hold.
Work Information
A nonfiction account of the environmental history and crisis of the Great Lakes.
Published by W. W. Norton in 2017, this environmental nonfiction tells the long history of the lakes while showing a current ecological crisis in concrete terms. Its reporting-driven clarity sets policy failure and the possibility of restoration side by side.
Book Information
- Publisher
- W W Norton & Co Inc
- Published
- 2017-03-07
- Pages
- 364 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 16.51 x 3.56 x 24.38 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9780393246438
- ISBN-10
- 0393246434
- Price
- 5533 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/History/Americas/United States/State & Local
The Death and Life of the Great LakesFor thousands of years the pristine Great Lakes were separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the roaring Niagara Falls and from the Mississippi River basin by a “sub-continental divide.” Beginning in the late 1800s, these barriers were circumvented to attract oceangoing freighters from the Atlantic and to allow Chicago’s sewage to float out to the Mississippi. These were engineering marvels in their time—and the changes in Chicago arrested a deadly cycle of waterborne illnesses—but they have had horrendous unforeseen consequences. Egan provides a chilling account of how sea lamprey, zebra and quagga mussels and other invaders have made their way into the lakes, decimating native species and largely destroying the age-old ecosystem. And because the lakes are no longer isolated, the invaders now threaten water intake pipes, hydroelectric dams and other infrastructure across the country.Egan also explores why outbreaks of toxic algae stemming from the overapplication of farm fertilizer have left massive biological “dead zones” that threaten the supply of fresh water. He examines fluctuations in the levels of the lakes caused by manmade climate change and overzealous dredging of shipping channels. And he reports on the chronic threats to siphon off Great Lakes water to slake drier regions of America or to be sold abroad.The Death and the Life of the Great Lakes
Reviews
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Interesting and informative!
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The book's font size is very small and it is very difficult to read it even with powerful glasses.
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Very good book, helps take a longer term view of what is happening in the lakes, vs the latest "news" headlines.
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Dan Egan's "The Death and Life of the Great Lakes" is a sweeping chronicle of North America's largest fresh-water lakes and the environmental threats they face. Tracing their geological history, from the end of the last ice-age some 10,000 years ago, to today's troubling headlines, Egan explores man's impact on one of the World's most precious resources: fresh-water. Well written and meticulously researched the book is endlessly fascinating with the author's hand-on approach of traveling to many locations and interviewing the people who live and/or work in these affected areas. The problems started with the building of some bypass-canals in an attempt to link the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean and the world of international shipping. Done with the best, of intentions in the mid 19th Century, these canals would allow goods from all over the World direct access to our "inland seas" and the communities who crowd their shores. Sounds like a good plan, right? Problem is; these canals not only served as a pathway for world commerce they were also a perfect avenue for any invasive organisms that happened that way. Whether these organisms swam, drifted or hitched a ride in the ballast of a cargo ship, they came in vast numbers from all over the Atlantic Seaboard and beyond. And they were unstoppable! I really enjoyed reading Dan Egan's marvelous book on the history and ecology of the Great Lakes. Written for the layman reader in clear, non technical prose, Egan starts out with their origins at the end of the last Ice Age. But it's man's impact on The Lakes, both intentional and non-intentional, that makes up the bulk of the book. The only connection between The Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean is the St. Lawrence River so any unwanted organisms would have a hard time getting past the many rapids and of course Niagara Falls. The early 19th Century governments of the United States and Canada wanted to open the area to worldwide shipping as a boost to the local economies and improve both commercial and recreational fishing. To that end it was decided to construct a series of canals that would allow the passage of deep-sea ships through a series of locks. There were a few dissenting voices heard but but those voices were largely ignored by the two governments and the canals were made available to overseas shipping concerns and the doorway to The Great Lakes was opened wide. At first everything worked fine but it wasn't long before environmental problems began to crop up. Foreign organisms, fish, algae, ect, found free passage to The Lakes on the hulls, and in the ballast tanks, of deep sea ships and, it turns out, the locks were largely ineffectual in stopping the invasion. Biologists and fishermen began noticing some strange fish in their catches. unfamiliar shell-fish and algae blooms added to the warning signs, but to no avail. Adding to the problem was the sewage discharge from coastal communities and and over application of fertilizer by farming concerns. It's a battle that continues to this very day. I was amazed at some of the suggestions made by professional biologists and by politicians, in both countries, to "fix" the problems. Also amazing was the connection between The Great Lakes and the Mississippi River and bodies of water even further west, it truly is a small world. I wholly recommend this book to anyone interested in the ecology and and social impact that can occur when Man tries to "improve" on Nature and how short sighted some scientists and governments can be. I received this Kindle edition free through the Good Reads Giveaway program. There were no technical or downloading issues with this edition. Last Ranger
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A very useful book: our ecosystem can be damaged by human activity but foresight and planning can avoid and fix many of the damages.