The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan

Yet, as Egan harrowingly reports, our overreliance on this vital crop nutrient is today causing toxic algae blooms and 'dead zones' in waterways from the coasts of Florida to the Mississippi River basin to the Great Lakes and beyond. Over the past century, phosphorus has made farming vastly more productive, feeding the enormous increase in the human population. The race to mine phosphorus took people from the battlefields of Waterloo, which were looted for the bones of fallen soldiers, to the fabled guano islands off Peru, the Bone Valley of Florida, and the sand dunes of the Western Sahara. First discovered in a seventeenth-century alchemy lab in Hamburg, it soon became a highly sought-after resource. The story of phosphorus spans the globe and vast tracts of human history. In this major work of explanatory science and environmental journalism, Pulitzer Prize finalist Dan Egan investigates the past, present, and future of what has been called 'the oil of our time.' But it's also the key component of one of the most vital: fertilizer, which has sustained life for billions of people.

You may then see a window reading 'waiting for host to start webinar,' but sit tight-you will be admitted as soon as we begin broadcasting live! You will be able to submit questions using the Q&A feature.Ībout the book: Phosphorus has played a critical role in some of the most lethal substances on earth: firebombs, rat poison, nerve gas. You will be prompted to enter a first name and email upon joining. Note: we are now hosting on Zoom webinars. He'll be in-conversation with Laura Rubin of Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition.Ĭlick here to join the webinar event on 3/17. We're pleased to welcome Dan Egan to our At Home with Literati Series in support of The Devil's Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance.

The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan