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Fred Pearce

When the Rivers Run Dry: Water--The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-first Century Paperback – March 15, 2007

by Fred Pearce (Author)

103 ratings

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In this groundbreaking book, veteran science correspondent Fred Pearce travels to more than thirty countries to examine the current state of crucial water sources. Deftly weaving together the complicated scientific, economic, and historic dimensions of the world water crisis, he provides our most complete portrait yet of this growing danger and its ramifications for us all.

Named as one of the Top 50 Sustainability Books by University of Cambridges Programme for Sustainability Leadership and Greenleaf Publishing.

Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Beacon Press
Publication date

March 15, 2007
Dimensions

5.98 x 0.69 x 8.98 inches
ISBN-10

0807085731
ISBN-13

978-0807085738
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Editorial Reviews

Review

A strong—and scary—case that a worldwide water shortage is the most fearful looming environmental crisis. With a drumbeat of facts both horrific (thousands of wells in India and Bangladesh are poisoned by fluoride and arsenic) and fascinating (it takes 20 tons of water to make one pound of coffee), the former New Scientist news editor documents a 'kind of cataclysm' already affecting many of the world's great rivers.—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Oil we can replace. Water we can't—which is why this book is both so ominous and so important."—Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

About the Author

Fred Pearce is an award-winning author and journalist based in London. He has reported on environmental, science, and development issues from 85 countries over the past 20 years. An environment consultant at New Scientist magazine since 1992, he also writes regularly for the Guardian newspaper and Yale University’s prestigious e360 website. Pearce was voted UK Environment Journalist of the Year in 2001 and CGIAR agricultural research journalist of the year in 2002, and he won a lifetime achievement award from the Association of British Science Writers in 2011. His many books include Falllout, With Speed and Violence, Confessions of an Eco-Sinner, The Coming Population Crash, and The Land Grabbers.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Beacon Press; 1st edition (March 15, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0807085731
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0807085738
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.98 x 0.69 x 8.98 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,170,615 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #278 in Water Quality & Treatment
- #1,047 in Rivers in Earth Science
- #1,473 in Natural Resources (Books)

Customer Reviews:
103 ratings

About the author

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Fred Pearce

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Fred Pearce, author of The New Wild, is an award-winning author and journalist based in London. He has reported on environmental, science, and development issues from eighty-five countries over the past twenty years. Environment consultant at New Scientist since 1992, he also writes regularly for the Guardian newspaper and Yale University’s prestigious e360 website. Pearce was voted UK Environment Journalist of the Year in 2001 and CGIAR agricultural research journalist of the year in 2002, and he won a lifetime achievement award from the Association of British Science Writers in 2011. His many books include With Speed and Violence, Confessions of an Eco-Sinner, The Coming Population Crash, and The Land Grabbers.

Photo Copyright Photographer Name: Fred Pearce, 2012.

Customer reviews

5 star		76%
4 star		15%
3 star		3%
2 star		4%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Mac Maven

Some Rivers Are Now Dry and More Soon to Follow

Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2015

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When I read this book in 2008 I found it well organized and he articulately reviews not only the major rivers of the world but also wet lands and aquifers. From the perspective of 2006, when the book was finished, it is a compendium of what has gone wrong and some disturbing projections of what might happen if the global society did not address water issues. Since the original publication the western United States has slipped into a mega-drought, Sao Paolo, Brazil's largest city has almost run out of water, Syria entered a multi-year drought which some argue is the genesis of the civil war and the rise of ISIS and the United States continues to water mine the Ogallala Aquifer for water to grow corn to produce energy inefficient ethanol. As the song from the 60s notes "When Will They Ever Learn?"

This is a book that demands an update 2nd edition. Many of the problems Mr.Pearce described have come to pass while others wait on the sidelines. The 4/13/15 front page headline of the NY Times is a picture of a rancid ditch that was once the mighty Rio Grande. Although this would not be surprising to anyone who read his book it appears as breaking "news" to many, not the least being elected politicians. Survival instruction talks about the rule of threes that if not observed will result in death: 3 minutes without air, 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food. Global food stocks are at historic lows and it is easy to imagine loss of potable water leading to a loss of food and should that occur we will see a loss of social coherence. Mark Twain said it best: "Whiskey is for drinking, Water is for Fighting" and as Fred Pearce noted the battles are already underway.

6 people found this helpful

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Guy Denutte

When the rivers run dry... many people will die...

Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2009

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Water is the most important substance in life. Our body consists of 70% water. Without drinking water, we die after a few days. Although water seems inexhaustible, the reality is different, due to the current way in which capitalism organized agriculture. Agriculture is used primarily to produce fodder, or even worse : biofuels.

Fred Pearce compares a quarter-pound hamburger with a pound of bread. The hamburger needs 11.500 liters of water in its production, whereas a pound of wheat can be produced with 500 liters water.

Capitalism still thrives on the belief that the sky is the limit. In the last 50 years, in the Great Plains, a volume of groundwater was pumped up that would need 2.000 years of rainwater to replenish.

Pearce focuses also on cotton. Cotton grows best in hot weather, but needs a lot of water to grow. He describes the situation in Egypt, Pakistan and what finally happened to the Aral Sea.

The capitalist depletion of our precious water sources for irrigation is actually enhanced by global warming. The glaciers of the Himalaya feed seven of the greatest rivers of Asia : Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Salween, Irrawaddy, Mekong and Yangtze. Two billion people depend on those for drinking and irrigating their crops. And the glaciers are melting... The Yellow River has seen its flow diminished with 24 % in comparison to its average flow in the last decade of the 20th century. The Colorado river rises in the Rocky Mountains and cities like Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Los Angeles depend on it, although there is less and less water in the river. In 2002 the flow was only 15 % of what it was a century ago. What was formerly known as a "big river", the Rio Grande, reaches the Mexican border now without a single drop of water.

Fred Pearce also goes on to propose some solutions, like catching rain water. This is certainly helpful, but I think that a change in diet - to less or no meat - is more important.

6 people found this helpful

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pegasus

I didn't know that....

Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2021

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Fascinating and illuminating stories, well written, about how man has ruined water sources and the unexpected effects of well-intentioned rerouting of water by humans.
I would recommend everyone read this book.

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Hreab23!9

An excellent perspective, thoroughly researched

Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2014

Verified Purchase

Pearce had taken an honest and interesting view of the world water crisis. He frames the issues not simply from cultures enjoying a history of waste and inefficiency but from a geopolitical and historical view that explains current international conflict. Not all is doom and gloom in his account of world water. After all the amount of water on Earth hasn't changed, only its distribution and use. Pearce offers ideas of new technology that hold promise for the most water stricken locations in the world, but recognizes politics will play an increasing role as climate change further shifts how water is distributed across the globe.

2 people found this helpful

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Jowoden77hn P Crank

Outstanding.

Reviewed in the United States on October 31, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is an exceptional book. Pearce brings the skills of a good story-teller to one of the most important problems facing us all today - the planetary plumbing that provides our drinking water, our industrial capacities, and our rich agricultural bounty. If there is a central theme to this work, it is about the many and varied ways humans have taken the natural hydrology of the planet and totally mucked it up, though almost always for the best of reasons. This book, though, stands apart from other similar ones in two regards. First, the narrative is always based on personal interviews and travels he has carried out to provide the reader with a contemporary visual perspective based on first hand information. I enjoyed them tremendously - I felt like I was getting a good snapshot of hydrological issues across the globe. Secondly, his sense of history is keen; the book is replete with deep and near term historical discussions that enliven and contextualize every chapter. Indeed, this is the kind of material I would really like to be able to write, it is sharp and thorough front to back. I noted another reviewer expressed concern over the absence of citations. That is a correct concern, I would have liked more citations myself. However, for me, that in no way detracted from the very high quality of this book.

3 people found this helpful

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PABLO JAIMEZ

A book that can change your vision of the world.

Reviewed in Spain on August 9, 2020

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A wonderful book. Very interesting. Essential to everyone who has a little of ecological conscience. It can change your vision of the world. Great job. Thank you

Duncan MacLeod

Can't review a book I have NOT YET RECEIVED.

Reviewed in Canada on December 10, 2012

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Can't review a book I have NOT YET RECEIVED. Eleven more words? I believe I've said it all! This is stupid!

Malek-farzad Nuban

Tout simplement excellent

Reviewed in France on August 11, 2006

Verified Purchase

Un livre tres bien ecrit .. tres complet et documente et facile a lire. Passionnant et en meme temps tres triste ce qu'on fait au nom de l'agriculture a notre planete. A lire particulierement le chapitre sur la cisjordanie au coeur du conflit actuel ...

2 people found this helpful

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