The Algal Bowl: Overfertilization of the World's Freshwaters and Estuaries

An influential Canadian scientist researching both freshwater and oceans, Vallentyne (1926-2007) warned in The Algal Bowl: Lakes and Man, published in 1974 by the Canadian Ministry of Public Works and Government Services, that unless the cavalier treatment of lakes was altered, North America would find itself in an Algal Bowl by the year 2000. Schindler (ecology, U. of Alberta-Edmonton) shows how well his predictions have come to pass, partly because of reasons he knew, such as the sewage and waste from burgeoning populations, and partly because of reasons that have come to light since, including global warming and the expansion of livestock culture. The topics include how lakes breathe, detergents an lakes, understanding eutrophication from experiments in small lakes, using the fossil record to interpret the history of eutrophication, recovery, estuaries and coastal zones, and the eutrophication problem as part of a greater environmental crisis. Distributed in the US by Michigan State University Press. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

David W. Schindler, O.C., F.R.S.C., F.R.S., is Killam Memorial Chair and Professor of Ecology at the University of Alberta, Edmonton. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the first Stockholm Water Prize (1991), the Volvo Environment Prize (1998), the NSERC Gerhard Herzberg Gold Medal for Science and Engineering (2001) and the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement (2006).John R. Vallentyne (1926-2007) began the eutrophication dialogue in the 1970s. He helped establish new centres of freshwater research in Manitoba and Ontario, championed the investigation of pollution in the Lower Great Lakes, and was Senior Scientist with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. He received the Rachel Carson Prize for his work.