World Water Day is on March 22! World Water Day is an annual UN observance day that highlights the importance of our most precious natural resource. Water scarcity, water pollution, inadequate water supply, lack of sanitation, and the impacts of climate change are all very real issues all over the world. World Water Day aims to inspire people around the world to learn more about water-related issues and to take action so we can defend and promote the human right to water.
Educate yourself! Take action! Make a difference! Here are some of our favourite books on our favourite natural resource:
Rivers Run Through Us: A Natural and Human History of Great Rivers of North America
by Eric B. Taylor
In this engaging new work, Eric Taylor takes readers on a grand tour of 10 of North America’s more important river systems, exploring one fundamental issue for each that illustrates the critical role each particular stream has had — and will have — in the human development of North America.
Rain Comin’ Down: Water, Memory and Identity in a Changed World
by Robert William Sandford
From one of the world’s foremost authorities on the connections between water, landscape, and our changing climate comes an intimate look at what drives one man’s obsession with the world’s most precious resource.
Quenching the Dragon: The Canada-China Water Crisis – An RMB Manifesto
by Robert William Sandford
In this latest RMB Manifesto, Canadian freshwater expert Robert Sandford takes readers to China and shares what it is like to deal with some of the most intractable freshwater problems in the world. Part environmental manifesto, part travelogue and part diplomatic odyssey, Quenching the Dragon arms readers with vital new perspectives on global hydrology and sustainability in the context of how former and current world leaders frame the most pressing environmental issues of our time.
Our Vanishing Glaciers: The Snows of Yesteryear and the Future Climate of the Mountain West
by Robert William Sandford
Winner, 2017 Lane Anderson Award for Best Canadian Science Writing
This remarkable and beautifully illustrated book chronicles the history of Canada’s western mountain glaciers through stunning photography, personal reflection and the most recent scientific research.
Storm Warning: Water and Climate Security in a Changing World
by Robert William Sandford
Human beings and industrial-based society are changing the composition of our planet’s atmosphere and causing it to warm at an unnatural and oftentimes astonishingly rapid rate. This highly considered, accessible and readable book explains how changes in the water cycle have already begun to affect how we think about and value water security and climate stability and what we can do to ensure a sustainable future for our children and grandchildren.
Ethical Water: Learning to Value What Matters Most
by Robert William Sandford, Merrell-Ann Phare
Fresh water is essential to both the ever-expanding human population and the ever-threatened natural landscapes that surround us. This ground-breaking and approachable work, by two of Canada’s most authoritative experts on water issues, redefines our relationship with fresh water and outlines the steps we as a society will have to take if we wish to ensure the sustainability of our water supply for future generations.
Denying the Source: The Crisis of First Nations Water Rights
by Merrell-Ann Phare
First Nations are facing some of the worst water crises in Canada and throughout North America. Their widespread lack of access to safe drinking water receives ongoing national media attention, and yet progress addressing the causes of the problem is painfully slow. First Nations have had little say in how their waters are, or are not, protected. This book is a call to respect the water rights of First Nations, and through this create a new water ethic in Canada and beyond.