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  • The Death and Life of the Great Lakes

  • Written by: Dan Egan
  • Narrated by: Jason Culp
  • Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (15 ratings)

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The Death and Life of the Great Lakes

Written by: Dan Egan
Narrated by: Jason Culp
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Publisher's Summary

A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist
Winner of the J. Anthony Lukas Award

A landmark work of science, history, and reporting on the past, present, and imperiled future of the Great Lakes.

The Great Lakes - Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, and Superior - hold 20 percent of the world's supply of surface fresh water and provide sustenance, work, and recreation for tens of millions of Americans. But they are under threat as never before, and their problems are spreading across the continent. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes is prize-winning reporter Dan Egan's engaging portrait of an ecological catastrophe happening right before our eyes, blending the epic story of the lakes with an examination of the perils they face and the ways we can restore and preserve them for generations to come. 

For thousands of years, the pristine Great Lakes were separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the roaring Niagara Falls and from the Mississippi River basin by a "subcontinental divide". Beginning in the late 1800s, these barriers were circumvented to attract oceangoing freighters from the Atlantic and to allow Chicago's sewage to float out to the Mississippi. These were engineering marvels in their time - and the changes in Chicago arrested a deadly cycle of waterborne illnesses - but they have had horrendous unforeseen consequences. Egan provides a chilling account of how sea lamprey, zebra and quagga mussels, and other invaders have made their way into the lakes, decimating native species and largely destroying the age-old ecosystem. And because the lakes are no longer isolated, the invaders now threaten water intake pipes, hydroelectric dams, and other infrastructure across the country. 

Egan also explores why outbreaks of toxic algae stemming from the overapplication of farm fertilizer have left massive biological "dead zones" that threaten the supply of fresh water. He examines fluctuations in the levels of the lakes caused by manmade climate change and overzealous dredging of shipping channels. And he reports on the chronic threats to siphon off Great Lakes water to slake drier regions of America or to be sold abroad. 

In an age when dire problems like the Flint water crisis or the California drought bring ever more attention to the indispensability of safe, clean, easily available water, The Death and the Life of the Great Lakes is a powerful paean to what is arguably our most precious resource, an urgent examination of what threatens it, and a convincing call to arms about the relatively simple things we need to do to protect it. 

©2017 Dan Egan (P)2017 Random House Audio

What the critics say

"Dan Egan’s deeply researched and sharply written The Death and Life of The Great Lakes...nimbly splices together history, science, reporting and personal experiences into a taut and cautiously hopeful narrative...Egan’s book is bursting with life (and yes, death)." (Robert Moor, New York Times Book Review)

"Engaging...[and] impeccably researched...Told like a great story rather than an academic lecture." (Anna M. Michalak, Nature)

"Living up to...early acclaim, [The Death and Life of the Great Lakes] is easy to read, offering well-paced, intellectually stimulating arguments, bolstered by well-researched and captivating narratives." (Lekelia Danielle Jenkins, Science)

What listeners say about The Death and Life of the Great Lakes

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Unnatural cycles

Nature's delicate balance can so easily be upset by the unintended consequences of commerce , greed, capitalism, call it what you will. Thousands upon thousands of years of beautifully evolved ecosystems trashed in the quick opening of a ballast tank from the Black Sea or the digging of a canal connecting previously isolated systems . Egan's fascinating account gives not only the natural history of the lakes but also social, political and economic background in an often depressing but always engaging thread. The only thing slightly missing for me was a deeper analysis of what the future might hold and what might be done to prevent the generally downward spiral given the nature of climate change, plastic and other pollution, and population growth.

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Informative without being boring!

I had not known that the situation concerning the great lakes was so dire! After reading this book, you too might come to realize how critically important they are not only to the peoples living parallel to them, but to people all over the world. I have read many books similar to this that are dry and dull. But the prose of Dan Egan and the presentation of Jason Culp assure at least a baseline entertainment value, so that listening is never an arduous slog.

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