AL MOMENTO ESAURITO

The Big Thirst : The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water by Charles Fishman (2011, Hardcover)

After reading THE BIG THIRST, you'll never look at a lawn sprinkler, the ocean, or even a glass of tap water the same way again. Consider: The United States uses more water each day than it uses oil in a year. Most of our water use is hidden-the electricity we use at home requires 250 gallons of water per person each day. A single day's meals for a typical American require 450 gallons of water. Water is more indispensable than we appreciate-it is essential to launching the space shuttle, it is the reason microwave ovens can cook, and manufacturing microchips requires a kind of exotic water so clean that it isn't safe for humans to drink. The economics of water are often irrational. Americans spend almost as much each year buying bottled water ($21 billion) as they do maintaining the nation's entire water system ($29 billion). Companies are way ahead of the public and government in seeing opportunities for innovation, driving a new era of "smart water." Monsanto is genetically engineering crops to use less water. Coca-Cola, Intel, and Campbell's Soup now measure their "water productivity," and IBM and GE have created water divisions to turn managing water into big business. Dramatic progress is possible in reimagining water use. The United States uses less total water today than it did in 1980-despite an economy that is twice as large. Book jacket.

Book Title
Big Thirst : the Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water
Author
Charles Fishman
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Topic
Environmental Science (See Also Chemistry / Environmental), Environmental Conservation & Protection, General, Natural Resources
Publication Year
2011
Genre
Nature, Science, Business & Economics
Number of Pages
400 Pages

Lc Classification Number
Hd1691.F55 2011
Reviews
"Fishman is a first-rate stylist; sentence by sentence, his conversational prose goes down easily." -- The Cleveland Plain Dealer, "A wide-ranging look at thatmost precious of goods, water, and a world in which it is a subject of constantcrisis...A timely warning." - Kirkus, "[A] lively and invaluable assessment ofthe current politics, economics, and culture of water. Lyrical in hisdescriptions of the beauty and wonder of water, Fishman is rigorous whenexplaining that the water we have now is all the water we will everhave."- Booklist (starred review), "An engrossing, globe-trotting narrative[and] a comprehensive, remarkably readable panorama of our dependence on- andresponsibilities to- a priceless resource." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Copyright Date
2011
Target Audience
Trade
Lccn
2010-033989
Dewey Decimal
333.91
Dewey Edition
23
Illustrated
Yes

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