"The story of phosphorus spans the globe and vast tracts of human history. The race to mine phosphorus took people from the battlefields of Waterloo, which were looted for the bones of fallen soldiers, to the fabled guano islands off Peru, the Bone Valley of Florida, and the sand dunes of the Western Sahara. Over the past century, phosphorus has made farming vastly more productive, feeding the enormous increase in the human population. Yet, as Egan...

"Skier and debut author Ayja Bounous explores threats to the winters and watershed in the face of climate change and the far-reaching impacts of a diminishing snowpack on the American West--not only from ecological and economic perspectives, but also in regard to emotional and psychological health, as she realizes how deeply her personal relationships are tied to the snow-covered mountains of Utah's Wasatch range"--Provided by publisher.