Description: With its soaring azure sky and stark landscapes, the American Southwest is one of the most hauntingly beautiful regions on earth. Yet staggering population growth, combined with the intensifying effects of climate change, is driving the oasis-based society close to the brink of a Dust-Bowl-scale catastrophe. In A Great Aridness, William deBuys paints a compelling picture of what the Southwest might look like when the heat turns up and the water runs out. This semi-arid land, vulnerable to water shortages, rising temperatures, wildfires, and a host of other environmental challenges, is poised to bear the heaviest consequences of global environmental change in the United States. Examining interrelated factors such as vanishing wildlife, forest die backs, and the over-allocation of the already stressed Colorado River--upon which nearly 30 million people depend--the author narrates the landscape's history--and future. He tells the inspiring stories of the climatologists and others who are helping untangle the complex, interlocking causes and effects of global warming. And while the fate of this region may seem at first blush to be of merely local interest, what happens in the Southwest, deBuys suggests, will provide a glimpse of what other mid-latitude arid lands worldwide--the Mediterranean Basin, southern Africa, and the Middle East--will experience in the coming years. Written with an elegance that recalls the prose of John McPhee and Wallace Stegner, A Great Aridness offers an unflinching look at the dramatic effects of climate change occurring right now in our own backyard. Author is Pulitzer Prize finalist, Pushcart Prize recipient, and Guggenheim fellowBeautifully written naturalistic prose, in the tradition of Wallace Stegner and John McPheeCompelling topic: the Southwest continues to be the fastest-growing and one of the most urban regions in the country--the book addresses whether or not its oasis-based culture will be able to continueAmerican Southwest is a proxy for semiarid ecosystems (e.g., Australia, the Middle East)--the climate effects in this region will shed light on climate events worldwide
Price: 8.8 USD
Location: Caro, Michigan
End Time: 2025-01-29T22:20:06.000Z
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Item Specifics
Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Seller
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Signed: No
Ex Libris: Yes
Narrative Type: Nonfiction
MPN: Does not apply
Original Language: English
Intended Audience: Young Adults, Adults
Inscribed: No
Vintage: No
Brand: Unbranded
Personalize: No
Personalized: No
Features: Dust Jacket, Ex-Library
Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
Book Title: Great Aridness : Climate Change and the Future of the American Southwest
Number of Pages: 384 Pages
Language: English
Publisher: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
Item Height: 1.3 in
Publication Year: 2011
Topic: Life Sciences / Ecology, Environmental Science (See Also Chemistry / Environmental), United States / State & Local / Southwest (Az, NM, Ok, Tx), Global Warming & Climate Change
Illustrator: Yes
Genre: Science, History
Item Weight: 20.8 Oz
Item Length: 9.3 in
Author: William Debuys
Item Width: 6.1 in
Format: Hardcover
