Book Review - The World Atlas of Rivers, Estuaries, and Deltas - Princeton University Press

      As we plunge headlong (and aimlessly) into the Anthropocene, it's hard to imagine a more timely book. Water, without which life ceases to exist, is threatened in every way possible. Past excesses and prior foolishness are examined, together with an intensive examination of the state of the world's rivers, estuaries and deltas today. The potential for remediation exists, sometimes by relatively simple means, but more often than not by astronomical expenditures, and a reversal of repeated egregious bad practices. Even faced with disaster - and disaster that is not far away - and in the face of the wise counsel of science, and weather events that are increasingly destructive, political will is still all too frequently lacking to make the changes that are necessary. Indeed a pernicious undercurrent of denial of the obvious persists.

     It is surely a conundrum that humans have always known the value of estuaries and have settled on or close to them, yet nothing has influenced us to take care of them. Our history is of profligacy and neglect, abuse and indifference - and now the price has to be paid.

     This book will give you a marvelous understanding of rivers, estuaries and deltas, and the dynamics of water flow, and especially sedimentation. Page by page there is so much to learn. The text, well written and inviting, is accompanied by photographs, maps, charts and diagrams to enhance your newly acquired knowledge. 

      Many of the world's megacities are located on estuaries and deltas and are under dire threat from subsidence and the rise in ocean levels, to say nothing of the increased ferocity of hurricanes that will wreak ever greater havoc and destruction. Think back only to 2017 when Hurricane Harvey came ashore in Houston, TX inflicting damage on a scale never before dreamed of let alone witnessed, and from which the area has still not recovered. Remember when Super Storm Sandy flooded the New York City subway?

       Coastal marshes would not have stopped the winds and the storm surges, but they would have mitigated the impact substantially.

     How many times have we brought species to the brink of extinction, only to spend millions preventing it? How many estuaries, deltas and rivers have we diverted, built on, modified, straightened, exploited and polluted, sometimes beyond the point of remediation? What options are open to a city of twenty million faced with rising waters that will flood the very land upon which people live, where subway trains operate, expressways carry cars, hospitals serve the needs of its citizens, universities educate? We are about to find out.

     There are some bright spots around the world where remediation is underway, and there are small successes.

      One cannot fail, however, to reluctantly invoke the phrase "too little, too late."

       What the future holds is difficult to predict. Not only are sea levels rising and glaciers melting, the population of humans demanding more from finite resources continues to increase, and the land mass to provide those resources is shrinking.

     The world is entering a perilous phase and time is running out for humans.

      This book, written by four distinguished scientists, helps to chart the future for us. To them we owe a debt of gratitude. We must first understand the natural forces at play before we can attempt to reverse past folly. A deep understanding of the history of the Earth is vital to interpreting the present. We need increasingly to pay attention to science and turn a deaf ear to babbling politicians who know nothing, and have no compunction about lying if it serves their purpose. Science provides evidence, science is factual, science delineates truth; science examines the past and serves as a window into the future. Put your faith in science, and ignore mindless, self-serving dogma and incoherent rhetoric. 

     

      And think long and hard about who you elect to public office. Your future depends on it.

The World Atlas of Rivers, Estuaries, and Deltas - Princeton University Press

Jim Best, Stephen Darby, Luciana Esteves, and Carol Wilson

Hardcover - US$60.00 - ISBN: 9780691244839

400 pages - 9 x 12.25 inches (22.5 x 30.625 cm) 

250+ colour illustrations

Publication date:  21 May, 2024