Exploring the Ecological History of the Great Lakes

Steve: A detailed description of the Great Lakes and their place in our future and the importance of water in America.

United States on Sep 02, 2023

Martt Harding: This book, written by a journalist who for many years has researched in detail the history of the Great Lakes with respect to primarily the fish populations, is a cautionary exploration about why invasive species can be such a challenge for an environment. Anyone who is willing to consider that we humans as a massively invasive species ourselves have caused lots of problems, will find this account very interesting. And perhaps
the book will contribute to our growing realization that seemingly trivial events can cause massive changes, many of them unforeseen. As persuasive as Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, but exploring a different aspect of human impact on the existing natural environment. When you consider how many ways we humans try to bend nature to our own desires and then find that life is marvelously -- and frighteningly -- interconnected, it's ever clearer that the impacts of environmental changes are, by and large, unpredictable. And thus need to be approached with great care and forethought, although even that will not prove sufficient.

United States on Aug 20, 2023

Andrew Fox: Easy to read and informative. The editing was a bit sloppy in parts making it read like a series of short stories that had similar introductions.

Canada on Jun 23, 2023

Linda + Leo: Interesting and informative!

Spain on Jan 08, 2021

Michael Cyrocki: Great Lakes reel from Anthropocene waves of change. Egan's 2017 book describes the tick-tock of biosphere chaos consistent with an emerging epoch.

Global human population, within decades, is expected to reach 10 billion. Cultivation, breeding, and captivity of introduced species will continue to be central to our system of food production. Egan's book describes the ecological damage from both intentional and unintentional introductions of alien, aquatic, species along with the unsustainable remediation cost.

Discussed is collapse of aquatic top-predators like the lake trout and of plankton scarcity at the food web's base. It's wave after wave of biological pollution coming in through elaborate, large-scale, canal systems and ingenious river locks connecting the Altlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes; and the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River watershed.

Invaders include the sea lamprey, alewives, coho/chinook salmon, spiney water fleas, zebra/quagga mussels, and gobies. Each lacks the benefit of coevolution, resulting in waves of accelerating change reminiscent of concepts from Alvin Toffler's book, Future Shock.

Like a bad moon rising, the hordes of...

United States on Jun 18, 2018

LastRanger: Dan Egan's "The Death and Life of the Great Lakes" is a sweeping chronicle of North America's largest fresh-water lakes and the environmental threats they face. Tracing their geological history, from the end of the last ice-age some 10,000 years ago, to today's troubling headlines, Egan explores man's impact on one of the World's most precious resources: fresh-water. Well written and meticulously researched the book is endlessly fascinating with the author's hand-on approach of traveling to many locations and interviewing the people who live and/or work in these affected areas. The problems started with the building of some bypass-canals in an attempt to link the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean and the world of international shipping. Done with the best,
of intentions in the mid 19th Century, these canals would allow goods from all over the World direct access to our "inland seas" and the communities who crowd their shores. Sounds like a good plan, right? Problem is; these canals not only served as a pathway for world commerce they were also a perfect avenue for any invasive organisms that happened that way. Whether these organisms swam, drifted or hitched a ride in the...

United States on Dec 18, 2017

Amazon Customer: For everyone, especially those ofus who live on or near the Great Lakes, this is a significant contribution to the implications for human and other-than-human life of the health and disease of our Great Lakes.

Canada on Aug 17, 2017

Jeanne: Spectacular! Elegantly written, the narrative is compelling, informative, and surprising. A "child of the Great Lakes", I learned so much more than I imagined I would, and remain in awe of how Egan let's this story unfold through multiple lenses including history, social justice, the environment, and economic development. An absolute pleasure, and a must-read!

Canada on Aug 10, 2017

Ellen: Bought this for my husband & he is halfway through it and is enjoying it very much. He is also shaking his head at the damage humans can do to the Great Lakes.

Canada on Aug 04, 2017