num_pages: 208
description: A lifelong acolyte of the natural world Annie Proulx brings her witness and research to the subject of wetlands and the vitally important role they play in preserving the environmentby storing the carbon emissions that accelerate climate change. Fens bogs swamps and marine estuaries are crucial to the earths survival and in four illuminating parts Proulx documents their systemic destruction in pursuit of profit.In a vivid and revelatory journey through history Proulx describes the fens of 16th-century England Canadas Hudson Bay lowlands Russias Great Vasyugan Mire and Americas Okeefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. She introduces the early explorers who launched the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and writes of the diseases spawned in the wetlandsthe Ague malaria Marsh Fever.A sobering look at the degradation of wetlands over centuries and the serious ecological consequences this is an unforgettable and unflinching tour of past and present fixed on a subject that could not be more important (Bill McKibben).A stark but beautifully written Silent Spring style warning from one of our greatest novelists.  The Christian Science Monitor
language: English
title: Fen, Bog and Swamp: A Short History of Peatland Destruction and Its Role in the Climate Crisis
publisher: Scribner