The Late, Great Lakes is a powerful indictment of man's carelessness, ignorance, and apathy toward the Great Lakes. With the longest continuous coastline in the United States, they hold one-fifth of the world's freshwater supply. Author William Ashworth presents a compelling history of the Great Lakes, from their formation in the Ice Age, to their "discovery" by Samuel de Champlian in 1615, and, finally, to their impending death in our time. Ashworth systematically deals with the wild life that once flourished in the region—beaver, salmon, whitefish, and trout—and describes the threatening elements which have displaced them—the predatory sea lamprey, the alewives, toxic waste, and volatile solids.
Vol. 2 includes copies of legislation pertinent to the proposal of the Thunder Bay Underwater Preserve and other regional sites as a National Marine Sanctuary. It also provides significant details about the history of shipwrecks, transportation and shipping on the Great Lakes.
Throughout history most people have associated northern North America with wilderness, abundant fish and game, snow-capped mountains, and endless forest and prairie. Canada's contemporary picture gallery, however, contains more disturbing images � deforested mountains, empty fisheries, and melting ice caps. Adopting both a chronological and a thematic approach, Laurel MacDowell examines human interactions with the land, and the origins of our current environmental crisis, from First Peoples to the Kyoto Protocol. This richly illustrated exploration of the past from an environmental perspective will change the way Canadians and others around the world think about � and look at � Canada.
The Americas and Oceania: Assessing Sustainability provides extensive coverage of sustainability practices in two regions linked culturally and historically by their relative isolation before the Columbian exchange, by their colonization after it, and by the challenges of pollution, resource overuse, and environmental degradation. Regional experts and international scholars focus on environmental history in areas such as the South Pacific islands, now particularly threatened by rising ocean levels due to climate change, and on countries whose governments and corporations can play a major role in promoting or discouraging sustainable choices: Brazil, an emergent power on the world stage; the United States, the world's third most populous nation; and New Zealand, seemingly on its way to becoming an enviable model of sustainable development.
The introduction and rapid spread of two Eurasian mussel species, Dreissena polymorpha (zebra mussel) and Dreissena rostriformis bugensis (quagga mussel), in waters of North America has caused great concern among industrial and recreational water users. These invasive species can create substantial problems for raw water users such as water treatment facilities and power plants, and they can have other negative impacts by altering aquatic environments. In the 20 years since the first edition of this book was published, zebra mussels have continued to spread, and quagga mussels have become the greater threat in the Great Lakes, in deep regions of large lakes, and in the southwestern Unites States. Quagga mussels have also expanded greatly in eastern and western Europe since the first book edition was published. Quagga and Zebra Mussels: Biology, Impacts, and Control, Second Edition provides a broad view of the zebra/quagga mussel issue, offering a historic perspective and up-to-date information on mussel research. Comprising 48 chapters, this second edition includes reviews of mussel morphology, physiology, and behavior. It details mussel distribution and spread in Europe and across North America, and examines policy and regulatory responses, management strategies, and mitigation efforts. In addition, this book provides extensive coverage of the impact of invasive mussel species on freshwater ecosystems, including effects on water clarity, phytoplankton, water quality, food web changes, and consequences to other aquatic fauna. It also reviews and offers new insights on how zebra and quagga mussels respond and adapt to varying environmental conditions. This new edition includes seven video clips that complement chapter text and, through visual documentation, provide a greater understanding of mussel behavior and distribution.
Based on decades of research and written in clear, concise prose by one of the foremost geographers in North America, John C. Hudson's Across This Land is a comprehensive regional geography of the North American continent. Clearly organized, the book divides the entire United States and Canada into six major regions, then further subdivides them into twelve smaller areas. Hudson emphasizes each region or area's distinguishing place-specific attributes, including—to a larger degree than previous regional geographies—political considerations. In this way, the book tells the story of each region, relying on a brisk narrative that reveals the dynamic processes of their distinctive characteristics. The first extensive regional geography of the North American continent in over seventy-five years, Hudson's Across This Land will become the standard text in geography courses dealing with Canada and the U.S. as well as a popular reference work for scholars, students, and lay readers.