The world's population is increasing; but its supply of water is not. Empires have grown and declined due to discovery and exhaustion of their water sources, and now the West is at last catching on to the fact that abundance of water can no longer be taken for granted. For the last fifty years, wars have been fought over oil; for the next fifty, they may be fought over water (in fact, some local wars already have been). Remarkably, this new book is the first to bring together the ecological, geographical, political and scientific aspects of water. Its author, Professor Paul Younger, is one of the UK's leading experts on water - a substance of which we consume 150 litres of a day, and in its bottled form are willing to pay more for than for petrol.

• : 1. Water, water, everywhere ... ?
• : 2. H2O - the molecular marvel
• : 3. The miracle of the blue planet
• : 4. Water as the universal solvent
• : 5. "Wildness and wet": hydroecology
• : 6. Moisture in motion: the fundamentals of hydraulics
• : 7. Use, Abuse, Lose? Water as a resource
• : 8. Water management in a changing climate
• : 9. Water wars and hydrological peacemaking
• : 10. Water as a commodity
• : 11. Water is not an island
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Paul Younger (Glasgow, Scotland) is one of the world's leading hydrogeologists, with 25 years of experience in the water industry worldwide. He is currently a full Professor at the University of Newcastle, where he heads up the Institute for Research on Sustainability. He is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.