R.W. Sandford - Water, Weather and the Mountain West

If you missed Bob's Live Interview on CBC Radio's The Homestretch with David Gray on Monday May 10th, you can listen to it by clicking the following link.

Bob Sandford is the EPCOR Chair of the Canadian Partnership Initiative in support of United Nations “Water for Life” Decade. This national partnership initiative aims to advance long-term water quality and availability issues in response to climate change in this country and abroad. In this capacity, Bob also sits on the Advisory Committee for the prestigious Rosenberg International Forum on Water Policy.

Bob is the Director of the Western Watersheds Climate Research Collaborative, (WWCRC) a not-for-profit research institute that promotes understanding of climate impacts on river systems originating in the Rocky Mountains. Bob is an associate of the Centre for Hydrology at the University of Saskatchewan and was recently appointed a Fellow of the Biogeoscience Institute at the University of Calgary (BGS). He also sits on the Management Board of the Alberta Water Research Institute and on the Expert Panel for the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) that is presently focusing on Canadian water policy. Bob is also co-chair of the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation’s expert Forum for Leadership on Water (FLOW). He is an advisor to Unilever Canada on its (GO BLUE!) water conservation program, and is a member of the Advisory Panel to the RBC Blue Water Project.

Bob’s second book on water issues in Canada, Water, Weather & the Mountain West, was published by Rocky Mountain Books (RMB) in the fall of 2007.His third book on water, Restoring the Flow: Confronting the World’s Water Woes, was published by Rocky Mountain Books in the fall of 2009. (see book trailer below). His next book Cold Matters: The State & Fate of Canada’s Freshwater Resources will be published in the spring of 2011.

What Is New in Version 2010-1

Reading the Wind

This version of Reading the Wind marks the next level of development of this annotated climate change bibliography. This version reviews 124 books. This adds 27 new reviews to the 97 books and five films that were offered in the previous iteration. In addition, this bibliography summarizes some of the landmark works that were published as the world prepared for the global conference on climate change held in Copenhagen in December of 2009. Among the new books reviewed are works by internationally respected climate scientists like James Hansen, James Lovelock, Tim Flannery, Henry Pollack and James Gustave Speth; economists of the reputation of Nicholas Stern; and politicians and activists of the stature of Al Gore.

In order to distinguish new reviews against the backdrop of older reviews in each of the categories new entries are marked in blue. The bibliography has been also been expanded and reorganized. There are also new sections on areas of interest such as Climate & the Arctic and Climate & Water as well as new sections of critical commentary including a special full-length review of Mike Hulme’s Why We Disagree on Climate Change and an analysis of what occurred at the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) in Copenhagen. These new sections are comprised of analyses that represent the opinion of this reviewer, not of the authors of any of the works that may have been cited within.

In addition, the 2010 edition of Reading the Wind is now also fully illustrated with cartoons borrowed from a wide range of websites which provide political and social commentary on climate change issues in Canada and around the world. Some of the very best are by Brian Gable who is an Editorial Cartoonist at the Globe and Mail. If this bibliography were a review of the world’s most insightful climate change humour, Mr. Gable’s work would be right at the top. That said, while permissions have been sought where asked, it is not the intention of this bibliography to infringe upon copyright. The Reading the Wind annotated climate change bibliography is offered free as an on-line service for students and others interested in evolving understanding of the global climate. If authors or artists do not wish to have their material associated with this bibliography please contact us and it will be removed immediately

Finally, this review also includes a new section of what can only be described as “Found Poetry” In good writing it often happens that non-fiction authors offer concise, hauntingly accurate assessments of the situations they are describing that cross the border of prose into the domain of poetry. While these passages may not have been intentionally poetic, some of the more eloquent statements qualify for consideration as true poetry in that their meaning transcends immediate intention of expression to offer additional but consistent messages on other levels of perception. In literary circles, highly articulate but beautifully phrases have been categorized into their own genre. Such statements fall under the rubric of “found poetry.” It is hoped that readers may find some of these found poems highly revealing.