WHEN THE RIVERS RUN DRY The Defining Crisis of the Twenty-First Century

Listeners can anticipate a strong environmental message about the state of water availability in the world today and in the future. The author dispels simple concepts of the past: that huge dams do only good things and that deeper and deeper wells can solve shortages. The water used or wasted in our homes doesn’t compare to the huge amounts used to grow our food—600 gallons for a pound of rice and 2,650 gallons for a pound of coffee. Narrator Tony Craine lightens the burden by helping listeners absorb the thousands of numbers and the hundreds of geographic locations, making the process seem effortless. His taciturn voice turns the endless minutiae into listenable material, and from it all emerges the shocking lesson the author intends. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2010]