Books like The death and life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan

Rachel Carson’s *Silent Spring* examines the widespread use of pesticides and their harmful effects on nature, sparking the modern environmental movement.

A landmark environmental work that blends keen observations of Wisconsin’s seasonal landscape with a broader philosophical critique of wildlife conservation.

Alan Weisman’s Countdown asks how many humans Earth can sustain, blending field research with ecological science to chart a path toward a balanced, prosperous future for people and nature.

In many areas of the world, environmental degradation in and around human settlements is undermining prospects for both socioeconomic justice and ecological sustainability. To explore the issues involved in this worldwide problem, Keith Pezzoli focuses on a dramatic instance of conflict that grew out of the unauthorized penetration of human settlements into the Ajusco greenbelt zone, a vital part of Mexico City's ecological reserve. The Mexican government's initial response to these "irregular" human settlements was contradictory and reactive. Social unrest, ecological deterioration, and violence have all been part of the continuing crisis. The heart of the book is the story of what happened when residents of Los Belvederes, a group of Ajusco settlements, fought relocation by proposing that Los Belvederes be transformed into Colonias Ecologicas Productivas, or productive ecology settlements. Through innovative organized resistance, their grassroots movement generated environmental and social action that eventually won crucial state support. Pezzoli draws upon urban and regional planning theory and practice to examine biophysical as well as ethical and social sides of the story, and he uses the Mexican experience to identify planning strategies to link economy, ecology, and community in sustainable development.

Jack Emerson Davis chronicles the Gulf’s evolution from a bountiful marine cradle to a region reshaped by oil, real estate, and climate change, weaving untold stories from fishermen to presidents to illuminate humanity’s impact on this Gulf ecosystem.

"If fresh water is a treasure, the Great Lakes are the mother lode. No bodies of water can compare to them. Superior is the largest lake on earth, and the five lakes together contain a fifth of the world's supply of standing fresh water. Their ten thousand miles of shoreline bound seven states and a Canadian province and are longer than the entire Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States; their surface area is greater than New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New hampshire, and Rhode Island combined. People who have never visited them - who have never seen a squall roar across Superior or the horizon stretching unbroken across Michigan or Huron - have no idea how big they are. They are so vast that they dominate much of the geography, climate, and history of North America. In one way or another, they affect the lives of tens of millions of people." "The Living Great Lakes is a complete book written about the history, nature, and science of these remarkable lakes at the heart of North America. From the geological forces that formed them, to the industrial atrocities that nearly destroyed them, to the greatest environmental success stories of our time, the lakes are portrayed in all their complexity."--BOOK JACKET.