Rhizomes : Plant stems that spread out underground and grow into a new plant that breaks above the surface of the soil or water. Oxbow lake : A curved lake formed when a river abandons one of its bends. Headwaters : The source of a river or stream. WORDS TO KNOWĪrroyo : The dry bed of a stream that flows only after rain also called a wash or a wadi. Rivers pass through several stages of development. The hydrologic cycle describes the manner in which molecules of water evaporate, condense and form clouds, and return to Earth as precipitation (rain, sleet, or snow). Rivers and streams are part of Earth’s hydrologic cycle. The Amazon River transports the largest volume (20 percent) of all the water in all the rivers of the world. The river system that obtains water from the largest area, 2,722,000 square miles (7,077,200 kilometers), is that of the Amazon. It begins in Ethiopia and travels 4,000 miles (6,437 kilometers) into Egypt, where it discharges its waters into the Mediterranean Sea. The world’s longest river is the Nile in eastern Africa. The vast Amazon system in South America, for example, is fed by at least 1,000 tributaries. When one stream or river flows into another, usually larger, stream or river, and adds its flow, it is considered a tributary of the larger river. The point where a stream or river empties into a lake, a larger river, or an ocean, is its mouth. Its channel is the path along which it flows, and its banks are its boundaries, the sloping land along each edge between which the water flows. If its source consists of many smaller streams coming from the same region, they are called headwaters. The origin of a river or stream is called its source. Although some rivers are larger than some streams, size is not a distinguishing factor. The term stream is often used to mean any natural flow of water, including rivers. A stream (also called a brook or a creek) is a natural flow of water that follows a more temporary path that is usually not in a valley. A river is a natural flow of running water that follows a well-defined, permanent path, usually within a valley. Pearce argues that the solution to the growing worldwide water shortage is more efficiency and a new water ethic based on managing the water cycle for maximum social benefit rather than narrow self-interest. With vivid on-the-ground reporting, Pearce deftly weaves together the scientific, economic, and historic dimensions of the water crisis, showing us its complex origins–from waste to wrong-headed engineering projects to high-yield crop varieties that have saved developing countries from starvation but are now emptying their water reserves. In this visionary book, Fred Pearce takes readers around the world on a tour of the world’s rivers to provide our most complete portrait yet of the growing global water crisis and its ramifications for us all. Throughout history, rivers have been our foremost source of fresh water for both agriculture and individual consumption, but looming water scarcity threatens to cut global food production and cause conflict and unrest. About When the Rivers Run Dry, Fully Revised and Updated EditionĪ new edition of the veteran science writer’s groundbreaking work on the world’s water crisis, featuring all-new reporting from the most recent global flashpoints
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