Author: Nancy Langston Publisher: Yale University Press ISBN: 0300231660 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 311
Book Description
A compelling exploration of Lake Superior’s conservation recovery and what it can teach us in the face of climate change Lake Superior, the largest lake in the world, has had a remarkable history, including resource extraction and industrial exploitation that caused nearly irreversible degradation. But in the past fifty years it has experienced a remarkable recovery and rebirth. In this important book, leading environmental historian Nancy Langston offers a rich portrait of the lake’s environmental and social history, asking what lessons we should take from the conservation recovery as this extraordinary lake faces new environmental threats. In her insightful exploration, Langston reveals hope in ecosystem resilience and the power of community advocacy, noting ways Lake Superior has rebounded from the effects of deforestation and toxic waste wrought by mining and paper manufacturing. Yet, despite the lake’s resilience, threats persist. Langston cautions readers regarding new mining interests and persistent toxic pollutants that are mobilizing with climate change.
Author: Peter Annin Publisher: Island Press ISBN: 159726637X Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 321
Book Description
The Great Lakes are the largest collection of fresh surface water on earth, and more than 40 million Americans and Canadians live in their basin. Will we divert water from the Great Lakes, causing them to end up like Central Asia's Aral Sea, which has lost 90 percent of its surface area and 75 percent of its volume since 1960? Or will we come to see that unregulated water withdrawals are ultimately catastrophic? Peter Annin writes a fast-paced account of the people and stories behind these upcoming battles. Destined to be the definitive story for the general public as well as policymakers, The Great Lakes Water Wars is a balanced, comprehensive look behind the scenes at the conflicts and compromises that are the past-and future-of this unique resource.
Author: Grant J. Merritt Publisher: U of Minnesota Press ISBN: 1452957096 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 189
Book Description
A memoir of family, mining pioneers and unscrupulous magnates, and the fight for Minnesota’s natural resources In 1855 the Merritt family arrived in Minnesota, where a descendant, Alfred, would one day become one of the “Seven Iron Men”—builders of the first mines to tap the state’s great mineral wealth in the Mesabi Range. Another Merritt, more than half a century later, would lead the efforts to protect Lake Superior from damage caused by mining. Iron and Water is Grant J. Merritt’s memoir of his life’s work on behalf of Minnesota’s people and environment and also the story of a significant family in state history. Merritt’s family played a key role in the struggle over natural resources in Minnesota—for the enrichment of mining pioneers, the prosperity of the state and its people, and the prospect of a secure and healthy future. This complex tale begins with the adventure of discovering iron ore and building the mines, railroads, and docks to move it, then devolves into the intrigues of business partnerships gone bad and attempts by John D. Rockefeller to defraud the Merritts. What follows is an engrossing account of Grant Merritt’s years in the halls of state politics and the trenches of environmental activism in defense of Minnesota’s North Shore and Lake Superior’s waters. The author’s tenure as head of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency under Governor Wendell Anderson and his service on the first board of the Minnesota Environmental Quality Council take us behind the scenes of landmark legal cases and crucial moments in Minnesota history—particularly the notable Reserve Mining case, in which the company was found liable for serious environmental and health threats on the shores of Lake Superior and ordered to be shut down. In these pages we encounter the people who were critical to this history, from robber baron Rockefeller to judges, activists, and politicians, including Walter Mondale and Jim Oberstar. In chronicling both the discovery of vast iron deposits on the Mesabi Range and the fight to save Lake Superior and Minnesota’s natural riches, Iron and Water reveals how, whether alone or together, individuals wield the power to change the world.
Author: Dan Egan Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company ISBN: 0393246442 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 384
Book Description
New York Times Bestseller Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner of the J. Anthony Lukas Award "Nimbly splices together history, science, reporting and personal experiences into a taut and cautiously hopeful narrative.… Egan’s book is bursting with life (and yes, death)." —Robert Moor, New York Times Book Review The Great Lakes—Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Superior—hold 20 percent of the world’s supply of surface fresh water and provide sustenance, work, and recreation for tens of millions of Americans. But they are under threat as never before, and their problems are spreading across the continent. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes is prize-winning reporter Dan Egan’s compulsively readable portrait of an ecological catastrophe happening right before our eyes, blending the epic story of the lakes with an examination of the perils they face and the ways we can restore and preserve them for generations to come.
Author: Nancy Langston Publisher: Mandel Lectures in the Hum ISBN: 9781684580651 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 208
Book Description
"Langston focuses on three ghost species in the Great Lakes watershed-woodland caribou, common loons, and lake sturgeon. Their traces are still present in DNA, small fragmented populations, or in lone individuals. We can still restore them, if we make the hard choices necessary for them to survive"--
Author: Walter LaPlante Publisher: Gareth Stevens Publishing LLLP ISBN: 148241418X Category : Juvenile Nonfiction Languages : en Pages : 32
Book Description
The surface of the Great Lakes covers 94,250 square miles (244,106 sq km). About 40 million people in the United States and Canada drink water from the Great Lakes, and millions of birds, fish, and other animals make their homes there. Much will be lost if the lakes aren't protected. Readers are introduced to Great Lakes conservation issues, including climate change, mining, and water quality. Full-color images and detailed sidebars accompany main content consistent with the social studies curriculum. The knowledge readers gain is sure to inspire the next generation of environmental warriors needed to save this precious ecosystem.
Author: Theo Colborn Publisher: Washington, D.C. : Conservation Foundation ; Ottawa : Institute for Research on Public Policy ISBN: Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 360
Book Description
This study argues that simply augmenting actions already taken to remedy environmental degradation in the Great Lakes region, such as control of polluters, and piecemeal restrictions of physical development, is not a sufficient response. Rather, it shows that a far-reaching commitment to reduce the environmental assault on the Great Lakes from all sources is necessary. It also underscores the need for a dramatic break from the crisis management approach to environmental degradation that persists in the region, and to develop a commitment to anticipate and prevent future legacies of environmental destruction.
Author: Dave Dempsey Publisher: University of Michigan Press ISBN: 0472116495 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 130
Book Description
Examines the environmental benefits and issues of the Great Lakes through a look at the commercialization, recreation, and population of the businesses and people in its surrounding areas.
Author: Nancy Langston
Author: Peter Annin
Author: Wendy Wriston Adamson
Author: National Wildlife Federation
Author: Grant J. Merritt
Author: Dan Egan
Author: Nancy Langston
Author: Walter LaPlante
Author: Theo Colborn
Author: Dave Dempsey