When the Rivers Run Dry, Fully Revised and Updated Edition Water-The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-First Century

A new edition of the veteran science writer's groundbreaking work on the world's water crisis, featuring all-new reporting from the most recent global flashpoints

Throughout history, rivers have been our foremost source of fresh water for both agriculture and individual consumption, but looming water scarcity threatens to cut global food production and cause conflict and unrest. In this visionary book, Fred Pearce takes readers around the world on a tour of the world's rivers to provide our most complete portrait yet of the growing global water crisis and its ramifications for us all. With vivid on-the-ground reporting, Pearce deftly weaves together the scientific, economic, and historic dimensions of the water crisis, showing us its complex origins--from waste to wrong-headed engineering projects to high-yield crop varieties that have saved developing countries from starvation but are now emptying their water reserves. Pearce argues that the solution to the growing worldwide water shortage is more efficiency and a new water ethic based on managing the water cycle for maximum social benefit rather than narrow self-interest.

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.

Abbreviations
Introduction: The Power of a River

I. When the rivers run dry . . . the poor take to the road

1. The Human Sponge
2. Lake Chad
3. Sahel
4. Riding the Water Cycle

II. When the rivers run dry . . . America loses the West

5. Rio Grande
6. Colorado
7. California

III. When the rivers run dry . . . the wet places die

8. Mekong
9. Seas of Death
10. England

IV. When the rivers run dry . . . we mine our children’s water

11. India
12. Overpumping the World
13. Bangladesh

V. When the rivers run dry . . . engineers pour concrete

14. Wonders of the World
15. The New Dam Era
16. Sun, Silt, and Stagnant Ponds

VI. When the rivers run dry . . . floods may not be far behind

17. China
18. Unleashing the River Dragon
19. Changing Climate

VII. When the rivers run dry . . . we go to war over water

20. Honduras
21. Palestine
22. River Jordan
23. Egypt
24. Iraq
25. Mesopotamia
26. Tibet

VIII. When the rivers run dry . . . civilizations fall

27. Elisha’s Spring and the Riddle of Angkor
28. Aral Sea

IX. When the rivers run dry . . . we try to catch the rain

29. Harvesting the Monsoons
30. Oman
31. Iran

X. When the rivers run dry . . . we go looking for new water

32. Taking the Water to the People
33. Singapore
34. Out of Thin Air
35. Seeding Clouds and Desalting the Sea

XI. When the rivers run dry . . . we should go with the flow

36. Europe
37. Ganges and Mississippi
38. More Crop per Drop
39. Colombia
40. Water Ethics

Acknowledgments
Notes
Index