"The book is long and covers some topics that seem daunting at first, but it is well worth the read if you are looking for a deeper understanding of this somewhat overwhelming topic.[...] deBuys ties in so many seemingly disparate issues to create a big picture of the Southwest's future, and doesn't shy away from taking a stance on potentially alienating subjects like immigration, indigenous land struggles, and corrupt bureaucracies." --
Earth First"This is on the short list of key books for anyone who lives in or loves the American southwest--with scientific precision and understated emotional power, it explains what your future holds. If you live elsewhere: it's a deep glimpse into one place on our fast-changing planet, and you'll be able to do many extrapolations. Remarkable work!" - Bill McKibben, author
Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet"DeBuys delivers thoughtful portraits of efforts to ameliorate conditions . . . readers will appreciate this intelligent account of water politics, forest ecology and urban planning in a region seriously stressed even before global warming arrived to make matters worse."
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Kirkus Reviews"With wide-eyed wonder and the clearest of prose, deBuys explains why we should care about these places, the people he portrays, and the conundrums over land and water he illuminates. No longer are aridity and climate change in the Southwest only of regional interest; deBuys is writing for America and we should all listen to what he has to say." --
Booklist (starred review)
"Drawing on the work of climatologists and other scientists, deBuys's analysis of the eco-crisis - rising temperatures, wildfires, water shortages, disappearing wildlife - is a reasoned warning to heavily populated arid regions round the world." -
Nature"A Great Aridness is his most disturbing book, a jeremiad that ought to be required reading for politicians, economists, real-estate developers and anyone thinking about migrating to the Sunbelt." --
American Scientist "Non-experts who want a concrete sense of climate change's impact - and a lyrical reading experience - should turn to A Great Aridness." -
Washington Post"Across the board global warming in the Southwest will challenge us morally, artistically, economically, politically, and socially. DeBuy's triumpth is to summarize, in clear and elegant prose, those challenges as they appear today." --
Western American Literature 49:3"William deBuys, one of our finest environmental historians, offers a narrative that follows the trajectory of Keeling's awesome arc. ... The story deBuys tells is informative, thought provoking, and elegantly written." --
Western Historical QUarterly
