The Bookshelf: May 18, 2016

Trib+Water is joining with respected books authority Kirkus Reviews to bring you select reviews of books of note in the field of water studies. For more book reviews and recommendations, visit Kirkus.com.

WATER IN PLAIN SIGHT: Hope for a Thirsty World

by Judith Schwartz

The bad news is that the world’s water, carbon, and energy cycles are out of whack; the good news is that solutions to these problems are within reach. Journalist Schwartz, who challenged much of the conventional thinking about global warming in Cows Save the Planet (2013), goes beyond that brief on holistic livestock management to look more broadly at how nature manages water and thus regulates heat. The author has traveled the world—Africa, Australia, North and South America—and spent significant time with farmers, ranchers, engineers, and scientists to understand the dynamics of plants, soil, and water and to see how these are related to climate change. The author argues that intensive agriculture, improper grazing, urbanization, engineered water infrastructures, and forest burning lead to desertification, the loss of moisture that makes the soil bare and lifeless. Some demanding passages require perseverance on the part of general readers, but the stories that surround them are important and rewarding.

For the full review, visit kirkus.com.