Today more than ever, large numbers of Americans are leaving the United States. It is estimated that by the end of the decade, some 10 million of the brightest and most talented Americans, representing an estimated $136 billion in wages, will be living and working overseas. This emigration trend contradicts the internalized myth of America as the land of affluence, opportunity, and freedom. What is behind this trend? Wennersten argues that many people these days, from college students to retirees, are uncertain or ambivalent about what it means to be an American. For example, many are...
Today more than ever, large numbers of Americans are leaving the United States. It is estimated that by the end of the decade, some 10 million of t...
"A hundred years ain't such a very long time on the Eastern Shore," local farmers and watermen used to say, and that is a telling refrain. Past and present mix easily on the Shore, and, in this respect, as well as in certain local customs and habits of language, the region is very much still an old-fashioned English society. Until fairly recently, the peninsula was one of the most geographically isolated regions on the Atlantic coast. In this isolated society, the most important factors have been agriculture, seafaring, and race--a blend of soil, sea, and soul. In his attempt to convey the...
"A hundred years ain't such a very long time on the Eastern Shore," local farmers and watermen used to say, and that is a telling refrain. Past and pr...
Part of the problem in dealing with public perceptions about Chesapeake Bay is that people think it will last forever. This obviously is not true. As oceanographer Jerry Schubel has noted, twenty thousand years ago there was no Chesapeake Bay. Since that time, There have been other beginnings and endings of other Chesapeake Bays. As we look to the future, however, we can see that increasingly the transformation of the Chesapeake will be more a human phenomenon than a work of nature. We live in times when momentous technological change can alter the face of the planet; and in the depressing...
Part of the problem in dealing with public perceptions about Chesapeake Bay is that people think it will last forever. This obviously is not true. As ...
In an age of misinformation and public apprehension about climate change, droughts, floods, and polluted drinking water, Global Thirst offers a critical perspective on water, its uses, and access, as a major global issue in the 21st century. Environmental historian John R. Wennersten turns an unflinching eye on today's global water problems, critically analyzing pollution, drought, dying rivers, and the privatization of water utilities. He also offers commentary on what kinds of sustainable water options we should be pursuing in the 21st century. Wennersten's analysis of water ranges from...
In an age of misinformation and public apprehension about climate change, droughts, floods, and polluted drinking water, Global Thirst offers a critic...
Global climate change is undeniable. Over the next few decades, as sea levels rise, storms intensify, and drought and desertification run rampant, hundreds of millions of civilians will abandon their homes, cities, and even entire countries. What will happen to these massive numbers of environmental refugees? Where will they go, what rights will they have, and who will take care of them?
Over 200 million people in Asian countries live on land that will be affected by rising seas. Picture Pakistan, India, and China--all nuclear powers--skirmishing at their borders over access to...
Global climate change is undeniable. Over the next few decades, as sea levels rise, storms intensify, and drought and desertification run rampant, ...
Global climate change is undeniable. Over the next few decades, as sea levels rise, storms intensify, and drought and desertification run rampant, hundreds of millions of civilians will abandon their homes, cities, and even entire countries. What will happen to these massive numbers of environmental refugees? Where will they go, what rights will they have, and who will take care of them?
Over 200 million people in Asian countries live on land that will be affected by rising seas. Picture Pakistan, India, and China--all nuclear powers--skirmishing at their borders over access to shared...
Global climate change is undeniable. Over the next few decades, as sea levels rise, storms intensify, and drought and desertification run rampant, ...