In this section:
Oceans drive the world’s climate, nurture marine ecosystems
full of aquatic life, and provide shipping lanes that have defined
the global economy for centuries. Yet human activities such
as commercial fishing, coastal real estate development, and
industrial pollution have taken their toll on the seas.
Fully illustrated throughout with global and regional maps—
from the Arabian Gulf to the Great Barrier Reef—this unique
atlas shows how urbanization, climate change, offshore oil
drilling, shipping routes, global tourism, and maritime conflict
have had a profound impact on the world’s oceans and coasts.
It addresses the ecological, environmental, and economic
importance of marine phenomena—such as coral reefs, eroding
shorelines, hurricanes, and fish populations—as well as the
global challenges we face to manage common waters and their
resources before development destroys the ultimate source of all
life on the “blue planet”.
Combining text and images in visually engaging, thematically
organized map spreads, this is a definitive companion to any
study of its subject for years to come.
is the author of many books on the environment and development, including Coastal Waters of the World, Our Common Future and the Atlas of the Environment. Now senior development manager at the Institute of War and Peace Reporting in London, he has worked with UN agencies, governments, and NGOs in some sixty developing countries.
An excellent comprehensive survey of the main problems confronting our seas and coasts.
Don Hinrichsen is one of the best writers specializing in ocean and coastal issues.
An extremely important contribution to marine science and a superb way of consolidating large amounts of complex information, and putting it into a format and language that can only enhance our understanding of the marine world around us.
