Nearly 60% of the world's population lives and works within 100 miles of a coast, and even those who don't are connected to the world's oceans through an intricate drainage of rivers and streams. Ultimately the whole of humankind is coastal. Coastal Waters of the World is a comprehensive reference source on the state of the world's coastal areas. It focuses on the tremendous pressures facing coastal areas and the management systems and strategies needed to cope with them. Don Hinrichsen explores the origins and implications of three related issues: the overwhelming threats to our coastal resources and seas from population and pollution; the destruction of critical resources through unsustainable economic activity; and the inability of governments to craft and implement rational coastal management plans. Introductory chapters present a concise summary of our coastal problems, including coastal habitat degradation and the fisheries crisis, along with a discussion of better management options. Three case studies of successful coastal governance focus on some of the problems and bring to life potential solutions. Following that are regional profiles that provide detailed information on the main population, resource, and management challenges facing each of the world's thirteen major coastal waters and seas. The profiles are presented in a standard format to allow for ease of comparison between regions, and accessibility of information. The book ends with a realistic and practical agenda for action that can be implemented immediately. Safeguarding these complex, interlinked ecosystems is humanity's most challenging management job. Coastal Waters of the World will help raise our awareness of coastal area concerns and provide a constructive contribution to the ongoing debate over how to manage these ever-changing areas, both for ourselves and for future generations. It will serve as a valuable reference tool and an up-to-date resource for policymakers, management specialists, and students interested in sustainable coastal governance.

The first comprehensive overview of the enormous ecological diversity of Baltic coastal ecosystems is presented in this volume provides. A short introduction into the Baltic Sea as a reference ecosystem is followed by detailed descriptions of the characteristics of coastal ecosystems. Ecological case studies from four regions illustrate the different reactions of these ecosystems to natural and anthropogenic influences.

Waves in Oceanic and Coastal Waters describes the observation, analysis and prediction of wind-generated waves in the open ocean, in shelf seas, and in coastal regions with islands, channels, tidal flats and inlets, estuaries, fjords and lagoons. Most of this richly illustrated book is devoted to the physical aspects of waves. After introducing observation techniques for waves, both at sea and from space, the book defines the parameters that characterise waves. Using basic statistical and physical concepts, the author discusses the prediction of waves in oceanic and coastal waters, first in terms of generalised observations, and then in terms of the more theoretical framework of the spectral energy balance. He gives the results of established theories and also the direction in which research is developing. The book ends with a description of SWAN (Simulating Waves Nearshore), the preferred computer model of the engineering community for predicting waves in coastal waters.

In The Book of Tides, William Thomson took the reader on a mesmerising journey round the coast of Britain. Now, he sets out with his surfboard and tidal compass to encounter the waters of the world, charting his most extraordinary sights and experiences. These include the whirlpools of the Arctic circle, the world's biggest ever surfed wave off Portugal, the strongest whirlpool in Norway and, in Australia, the most dangerous rapids known to us. With the enticing combination of William's passionate text and collectible mapping illustrations, this is a book for anyone who feels the pull of the tides and call of the sea. FEATURING: New Zealand Australia Portugal France England Scotland Norway The Netherlands Spain Indonesia China Japan USA Canada Belize

"An immersive, mildly gonzo and depressingly well-timed book about the drenching effects of global warming, and a powerful reminder that we can bury our heads in the sand about climate change for only so long before the sand itself disappears." (Jennifer Senior, New York Times) A New York Times Critics' Top Book of 2017One of Washington Post's 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction in 2017One of Booklist's Top 10 Science Books of 2017 What if Atlantis wasn't a myth, but an early precursor to a new age of great flooding? Across the globe, scientists and civilians alike are noticing rapidly rising sea levels, and higher and higher tides pushing more water directly into the places we live, from our most vibrant, historic cities to our last remaining traditional coastal villages. With each crack in the great ice sheets of the Arctic and Antarctica, and each tick upwards of Earth's thermometer, we are moving closer to the brink of broad disaster. By century's end, hundreds of millions of people will be retreating from the world's shores as our coasts become inundated and our landscapes transformed. From island nations to the world's major cities, coastal regions will disappear. Engineering projects to hold back the water are bold and may buy some time. Yet despite international efforts and tireless research, there is no permanent solution-no barriers to erect or walls to build-that will protect us in the end from the drowning of the world as we know it. The Water Will Come is the definitive account of the coming water, why and how this will happen, and what it will all mean. As he travels across twelve countries and reports from the front lines, acclaimed journalist Jeff Goodell employs fact, science, and first-person, on-the-ground journalism to show vivid scenes from what already is becoming a water world.

Rivers provide the primary link between land and sea. Utilizing the world's largest database, this book presents a detailed analysis and synthesis of the processes affecting fluvial discharge of water, sediment and dissolved solids. The ways in which climatic variation, episodic events, and anthropogenic activities - past, present and future - affect the quantity and quality of river discharge are discussed in the final two chapters. The book contains 26 tables and more than 165 figures - many in full color - including global and regional maps. The book's extensive appendix presents the 1534-river database as a series of 44 tables and 132 maps that provide quantitative data regarding the discharge of water, sediment and dissolved solids. The complete database is also presented within a GIS-based package available online at www.cambridge.org/milliman. River Discharge to the Coastal Ocean provides an invaluable resource for researchers, professionals and graduate students in hydrology, oceanography, geology, geomorphology and environmental policy.

Humanity can make short work of the oceans’ creatures. In 1741, hungry explorers discovered herds of Steller’s sea cow in the Bering Strait, and in less than thirty years, the amiable beast had been harpooned into extinction. It’s a classic story, but a key fact is often omitted. Bering Island was the last redoubt of a species that had been decimated by hunting and habitat loss years before the explorers set sail. As Callum M. Roberts reveals in The Unnatural History of the Sea, the oceans’ bounty didn’t disappear overnight. While today’s fishing industry is ruthlessly efficient, intense exploitation began not in the modern era, or even with the dawn of industrialization, but in the eleventh century in medieval Europe. Roberts explores this long and colorful history of commercial fishing, taking readers around the world and through the centuries to witness the transformation of the seas. Drawing on firsthand accounts of early explorers, pirates, merchants, fishers, and travelers, the book recreates the oceans of the past: waters teeming with whales, sea lions, sea otters, turtles, and giant fish. The abundance of marine life described by fifteenth century seafarers is almost unimaginable today, but Roberts both brings it alive and artfully traces its depletion. Collapsing fisheries, he shows, are simply the latest chapter in a long history of unfettered commercialization of the seas. The story does not end with an empty ocean. Instead, Roberts describes how we might restore the splendor and prosperity of the seas through smarter management of our resources and some simple restraint. From the coasts of Florida to New Zealand, marine reserves have fostered spectacular recovery of plants and animals to levels not seen in a century. They prove that history need not repeat itself: we can leave the oceans richer than we found them.

A stunning photographic collection of homes and holiday retreats to be found by the sea.

Eutrophication in the transitional marine coastal waters has increased dramatically in many parts of the world, and this evolution has shifted attention to the anthropogenic factor. The problem has become the theme of many conferences and workshops, as well as being given priority in international organizations. This volume has been brought about by the desire to assess both our scientific understanding as well as the means and technologies available to combat the problem of marine coastal eutrophication. It discusses the results of research and surveillance programmes carried out in the last decades, confronting these results with experience gained elsewhere, and reviewing current proposals of what can be done about the problem. This volume will be invaluable to environmental scientists and marine ecologists, as well as to those who wish to resolve the many large-scale environmental problems, specifically marine eutrophication and marine pollution in general.

In multidisciplinary efforts to understand and manage our planet, contemporary ocean science plays an essential role. Volumes 13 and 14 of The Sea focus on two of the most important components in the field of ocean science today--the coastal ocean and its interactions with the deep sea, and coupled physical-biogeochemical and ecosystem dynamics.