Traveling the 38th Parallel: A Water Line Around the World

"David and Janet Carle's journey along the 38th parallel provides a unique approach to exploring the world's struggle to maintain water resources. Their exploration of diverse cultures and landscapes combines wonderfully with their well-considered examination of water issues." --Robin Grossinger, Senior Scientist at the San Francisco Estuary Institute

"David and Janet Carle's journey along the 38th parallel turned into something quite different- an exploration of diverse global environments, of exploitation and heroic efforts at renewal with long-term planning for recovery. This is a treasure of a book that provides both hope and food for thought. Everyone who cares about the future of our environment should read this remarkable volume."--Brian Fagan, author of Elixir: A History of Humans and Water and Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara

"Regardless of our differences, all humans share an utter dependency on water. We will run out of oil eventually, but if we allow reason to prevail, we need not run out of water. This beautiful book both reveals the threat to our water resources and gives us hope. Read it for your sake and your children's sake." --James Lawrence Powell, author of Dead Pool

Traveling largely outside of cities, away from well-beaten tourist tracks, the authors cross Japan, Korea, China, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Greece, Sicily, Spain, Portugal, the Azores Islands, and the United States--from Chesapeake Bay to San Francisco Bay. The stories they gather provide stark contrasts as well as reaffirming similarities across diverse cultures. Generously illustrated with maps and photos, Traveling the 38th Parallel documents devastating environmental losses but also inspiring gains made through the efforts of dedicated individuals working against the odds to protect these fragile places.

Introduction: Parallel Universe 38° North

Part I. Asia

The Four Rivers "Restoration" Project

Ecological Recovery behind Barbed Wire

China's Yellow River Delta

The South-North Water Transfer Project

National Parks of Ningxia

Up the Yellow River to Lanzhou's Green Camel Bell

Qinghai--Blue Lake of the Tibetan Plateau

Hotan to Kashgar on the Southern Silk Road

The Edge of China and Turkmenistan

Hasankeyf in Peril on the Tigris River

Fairy Chimneys, Tuz Golu, Travertine, and a City That Lost Its Port

Part II. Europe

Greek Islands, Athens, and the "Navel of the Earth"

Saving Raptors and Water in Sicily

Spain's Coastal Lagoons, Water for Growth, and Iberian Lynx

Portugal's Transported Town, a Solar Donkey, and the Azores

Part III. United States

Chesapeake Bay Watershed Education

The Rappahannock River and Mattawoman Creek

Mountaintop Removal Coal Mines in West Virginia

Midwestern Rivers and the Population Center of the United States

Seagulls in Kansas and the Santa Fe Trail

Mining the Ogallala Aquifer

Colorado, the Headwaters State

Colorado River Cleanup and Groundwater for Las Vegas

Part IV. California: A Water Line to the Pacific

Mono Lake to the Sierra Crest

Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne to Hetch Hetchy

Friends of the River and the New Melones Reservoir

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

Strait to the Bay

Point Reyes and the Pacific Coast

Part V. Renewal and Recovery

Recovery on the Tsunami Coast

It Takes a Village to Save the Toki

We Are Bodies of Water

Acknowledgments

Bibliography

Index