Books in Earth in Danger series

There is a limited supply of freshwater on our planet. However, many people think that it is much easier to come by than it actually is. All living things depend on water and yet more than 1.1 billion people worldwide lack daily access to freshwater. Some water is contaminated with water-borne diseases and in some places such as the Sahara Desert there just simply isn't any water for people. This book explores the causes of the freshwater crisis and ways students can participate in being more mindful of water availability and their own personal water use.

Recently, waste disposal practices have come under intense scrutiny. Several industries produce waste that must be disposed of in certain ways to avoid pollution. Nuclear power plant waste is radioactive and causes serious health issues if it isn't disposed of properly. Landfills cause other environmental issues by leaching hazardous materials into groundwater sources and contributing harmful gases to the environment. This book highlights the different types of waste disposal, the problems associated with each, and methods some countries have developed to mitigate problems caused by waste disposal.

Our natural resources include freshwater, forests, oceans, clean air, and land. Humans are steadily depleting each of these resources. We constantly use more resources than our planet is able to replace. People take long showers, use paper products produced as a result of deforestation, buy more food than they can possibly eat, drive cars that pollute the air, and mine the land. Each of these human activities has a number of negative consequences. This book reveals how students can reduce their contribution to natural resource depletion and efforts to find alternative sources of energy.