Though almost no one knows it, the most diverse forests and aquatic
systems in the nation lie in Alabama. Described as America’s
Amazon, Alabama has more species per square mile than any other
state. Its rivers are home to more species of fish, crayfish,
salamanders, mussels, snails and turtles than any other aquatic
system in North America. And the contest isn’t even close.
California, for instance, has nine species of crayfish, while
Alabama has eighty-four. The Colorado River system, which drains
seven Southwestern states, is home to 26 species of fish, while
Alabama's rivers are home to 350 species. But the wild places of
the state are also under siege. Alabama has suffered more aquatic
extinctions than any other state. In fact, nearly half of all
extinctions in the United States since the 1800s happened in
Alabama, which has been logged, mined, and poisoned by a succession
of industries. In this compelling portrait of the rough history of
Alabama’s rivers and the lands they flow through, Raines makes a
case that more has been lost in Alabama than any other state thanks
to the destructive hand of man. The version of Alabama that exists
in the mind of the public – lynchings and fire hoses, cotton
fields and steel mills – comes from things we’ve done to
Alabama, and has for too long overshadowed the stunning natural
splendor of the place. Saving America’s Amazon highlights this
other Alabama, a wild place of incredible diversity, of ancient
gardens and modern edens. The ascendant view among scientists today
is that Alabama’s wild places should be treasured and protected
as one of the richest and most diverse regions on the globe, an
internationally important "biodiversity hotspot." But that is not
what is happening on the ground in Alabama, which spends less on
environmental protection than any other state. Instead, the
constant stream of newly discovered species struggles to keep pace
with the number of creatures being declared forever lost. The time
of reckoning is here for the people of Alabama, who must decide
whether their state will wear the crown for being the most diverse
place on the continent, or the crown for the place with the most
extinctions. One thing is certain, Alabama cannot lay claim to both
crowns forever.
General
Imprint: |
NewSouth, Incorporated
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
December 2020 |
Authors: |
Ben Raines
• Edward O. Wilson
|
Dimensions: |
241 x 254 x 15mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover - Cloth over boards
|
Pages: |
200 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-58838-338-9 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
1-58838-338-5 |
Barcode: |
9781588383389 |
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