Janet Carle & David Carle 
Traveling the 38th Parallel 
A Water Line around the World

Between extremes of climate farther north and south, the 38th North parallel line marks a temperate, middle latitude where human societies have thrived since the beginning of civilization. It divides North and South Korea, passes through Athens and San Francisco, and bisects Mono Lake in the eastern Sierra Nevada, where authors David and Janet Carle make their home. Former park rangers, the authors set out on an around-the-world journey in search of water-related environmental and cultural intersections along the 38th parallel. This book is a chronicle of their adventures as they meet people confronting challenges in water supply, pollution, wetlands loss, and habitat protection. At the heart of the narrative are the riveting stories of the passionate individuals—scientists, educators, and local activists—who are struggling to preserve some of the world’s most amazing, yet threatened, landscapes.


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.

Tabela de Conteúdo

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

Sobre o autor

David and Janet Carle were state park rangers at Mono Lake Tufa State Reserve for twenty years and have taught at Cerro Coso Community College in Mammoth Lakes. Janet is the editor of the California State Park Rangers Association journal, The Wave. David is the author of numerous books including Introduction to Earth, Soil and Land in California, Introduction to Water in California, Introduction to Fire in California, and Introduction to Air in California (all by UC Press).