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Notes:

• Includes bibliographical references and index.
• An alternative to Eden — Coasts of the ancient mariner — Sea frontiers of the early modern Atlantic — Settling the shores — The second discovery of the sea — Coastal dreams and nightmares — Conclusion: Learning to live with coasts.
• Since before recorded history, people have congregated near water. But as growing populations around the globe continue to flow toward the coasts on an unprecedented scale and climate change raises water levels, our relationship to the sea has begun to take on new and potentially catastrophic dimensions. The latest generation of coastal dwellers lives largely in ignorance of the history of those who came before them, the natural environment, and the need to live sustainably on the world’s shores. Humanity has forgotten how to live with the oceans. In The Human Shore, a magisterial account of 100,000 years of seaside civilization, John R. Gillis recovers the coastal experience from its origins among the people who dwelled along the African shore to the bustle and glitz of today’s megacities and beach resorts. He takes readers from discussion of the possible coastal location of the Garden of Eden to the ancient communities that have existed along beaches, bays, and bayous since the beginning of human society to the crucial role played by coasts during the age of discovery and empire. An account of the mass movement of whole populations to the coasts in the last half-century brings the story of coastal life into the present. Along the way, Gillis addresses humankind’s changing relationship to the sea from an environmental perspective, laying out the history of the making and remaking of coastal landscapes — the creation of ports, the draining of wetlands, the introduction and extinction of marine animals, and the invention of the beach — while giving us a global understanding of our relationship to the water. Learned and deeply personal, The Human Shore is more than a history : it is the story of a space that has been central to the attitudes, plans, and existence of those who live and dream at land’s end.

Subjects:

• Coasts.
• Seashore.

Requested by Lansing, M.

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Part of the series Excelsior editions;Excelsior editions.
Notes:

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-184) and index.
• Preface — Acknowledgments — Foreword — Introduction — Science — Water on Earth — Ocean — Biodiversity — Gaia — Tipping Point — CO₂, O₂, and H₂O — Unusual — Circulation — Water and Energy — Water Vapor — Evapotranspiration — Acid Rain — Studies of Water — Measuring Water — More Water Measurements — Hydraulics — Wonder — Water Storage — Hydropedology — Fertilizer in the Rain — Plants and Water — Invasive Species — Mosses and Water — Water and Trees — Interception and Energy — Interception Amount — Soil Storage — Frost in Soil — Measuring Soil Moisture — Wetlands — Flushing — Backyard Ponds — Culture and History — Water in Culture — Water Is&hellip — The Word Water — Gods and Goddesses — Maxims — Nursery Rhymes — Jack and Jill — Weather and Climate — Umbrella? — Chance (1): Rain — Full Moon — Humidity — Clouds — Fog — Raindrops — Measuring Precipitation — Measuring Snow — Ice Precipitation — Black Ice — Morning Ice Crystals — Bad Weather — Storm Types — Storm Types (Again) — Cyclonic Storms — Convectional Storms — Orographic Storms — Lake Effect — Hurricanes and Tornados — Drought — Meteorological Drought — Agricultural Drought — Hydrological Drought — Climate Change Terminology — Canary — Our Greenhouse — Global Warming — Hydrology — Hydrology — Hydrology (Second Definition) — Annual Hydrograph — Hydrological Seasons — Happy New Year — Season of Soil Moisture Recharge — Season of Maximum Runoff — Season of Maximum Evapotranspiration — Arid Zone Hydrology — Deserts — Tropical Hydrology — Cold Regions Hydrology — Runoff — Measuring Runoff — Groundwater Runoff — Stormwater Runoff — Storm Hydrograph — Storm Flow — Stormwater Runoff Quality — Floods — Infiltration — Chance (2): Floods — More Flooding — Floodplains — Flood Insurance — Three Rivers, Three Floods — Economics, Management, and Policy — Using Water — Water in the World — Storage — Resource Buffers — Watersheds — Water B
• In this engaging book, hydrologist Peter E. Black celebrates the wonder of our planet’s most precious natural resource. In these brief, nontechnical essays, readers are introduced to water’s unique scientific properties, the vital role it plays in Earth’s ecology and ecosystems, and the impact it has had on human history, culture, art, law, and economics. At turns educational and inspirational, humorous and reverent, the book also sounds a cautionary note: water is abundant, but it is also scarce. Only three percent of the earth’s water in fresh, and only a small percentage of that fresh water is available for human use and consumption. Therefore, it must be managed carefully, and understood, lest we find ourselves with too little, too late.

Subjects:

• Water.
• Hydrology.
• Watersheds.
• Water quality.
• Water conservation.

Requested by Kupiers, R

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Part of the series Very short introductions 311;Very short introductions 311.
Notes:

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-121) and index.
• 1. Nature’s driver — 2. Sacred flows — 3. Liquid histories — 4. Roads that move — 5. Tamed rivers.
• Rivers have acted as cradles for civilization and agents of disaster a river may be a barrier or a highway, bearing trade and sediment, culture and conflict. This volume is a celebration of rivers in all their diversity. The author, a geographer covers a wide and eclectic range of river-based themes, from physical geography and mythology, to industrial history and literary criticism. Offering a truly global look at rivers including the Amazon, the Ganges, the Danube, and the Mississippi, with examples from all continents, including Egypt, India, and Bangladesh, he considers the role that rivers have played in human history from settlements and trade to warfare, and also looks at the human impact upon rivers by the construction of dams and cutting of channels.

Subjects:

• Rivers.
• Rivers in art.
• Rivers in literature.
• Rivers — Religious aspects.
• Rivers — Social aspects.

Requested by Knutson, P