The Atlas of Coasts and Oceans: Ecosystems, Threatened Resources, Marine Conservation

by Don Hinrichsen

Overview

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. And few realize that half of the world’s population lives in a coastal region within easy reach of one. Yet human activities such as commercial fishing, coastal real estate development, and industrial pollution have taken their toll on the seas. The first book of its kind, The Atlas of Coasts and Oceans documents the fraught relationship between humans and the earth’s largest bodies of water—and outlines the conservation steps needed to protect the marine environment for generations to come.

The Atlas offers a fascinating and often sobering account of 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. Combining text and images in visually engaging, thematically organized map spreads, this volume addresses the ecological, environmental, and economic importance of marine phenomena such as coral reefs, eroding shorelines, hurricanes, and fish populations—and how development threatens to destroy the ultimate source of all life on the “blue planet.” Lavishly illustrated with global and regional maps, from the Arabian Gulf to the Great Barrier Reef, from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean, and all the other major global waterways, The Atlas of Coasts and Oceans will be the definitive companion to any study of its subject for years to come.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226342269
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	06/15/2011
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Don Hinrichsen is the author of many books on the environment and development. 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.

Table of Contents

Photo credits 8

About the Author 9

Foreword Jens Sorensen 11

Introduction: Our ocean planet in peril 13

Acknowledgements 18

Definition of key terms 19

Part 1 People and Coasts 22

Population Growth Along Coasts 24

Half the world's population lives in coastal regions, on just 10 percent of the earth's land area.

Urbanized Coastlines 26

For the first time in history, the majority of the world's people live and work in towns and cities.

Urbanized Coastlines: Sub-Saharan Africa 28

Eroding Shorelines 30

Coastal erosion is a natural phenomenon, aggravated by human activities.

Part 2 Major Threats to Ocean Resources 32

Marine Ecosystems Under Threat 34

Human impacts over the last 60 years have led to a decline in the viability of coastal and ocean ecosystems.

Ocean Dead Zones 36

The number of coastal dead zones has doubled every decade since 1962.

Ocean Dead Zones: The Baltic Sea 38

Ocean Dead Zones: The Northwest Pacific 40

Key Coastal Environments at Risk 42

Coastal wetlands, estuaries, and seagrass meadows perform vital ecological functions on which human safety and wellbeing depend.

Key Coastal Environments at Risk: Seagrasses 44

Key Coastal Environments at Risk: Mangroves 46

Coral Reefs in Danger 48

Coral reefs provide valuable coastal protection, and play a vital role in the health and ecology of the oceans.

The Empty Ocean 50

The rising global demand for seafood is leading to over-exploitation of fish stocks.

Part 3 Trade, Commerce, and Tourism 52

Major Shipping Lanes 54

The overwhelming majority of world trade travels by ship to key seaports.

Energy From the Sea: Oil and Gas 56

The quantity of oil extracted from offshore fields is expected to increase, posing an increasing hazard to the marine environment.

Energy From the Sea: Wind 58

Energy From the Sea: Tides and Waves 60

Coastal and Marine Tourism 62

Coastal and marine tourism are the fastest growing sectors of the travel and leisure industry.

Coastal and Marine Tourism: Mediterranean Sea 64

Farming the Sea 66

Farmed fish and shellfish are meeting most of the rising demand for seafood from the developing economies of Asia and Latin America.

Farming the Sea: Asia and Indo-Pacific 68

Part 4 Climate Change 70

The Ocean Conveyor Belt 72

The world's oceans play an important role in shaping the earth's climate

Rising Seas 74

As the world's climate changes sea levels are rising. If current trends continue, the world could face catastrophic coastal inundations.

Rising Seas: Small Island Developing States (SIDS) 76

Extreme Weather Events 78

Extreme weather events are increasingly linked to climate change.

Ocean Acidification 80

Rising carbon dioxide emissions are leading to increasing acidification of the oceans.

Disappearing Arctic 82

The extent of Arctic sea ice is shrinking as the polar temperature increases.

Antarctic: Losing Ice Cover 84

The West Antarctic ice sheet is losing volume and a number of floating ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula have already broken up.

Part 5 Seas in Conflict 86

Contested Islands 88

Contested islands pose the risk of igniting regional conflict between countries with competing claims.

Piracy: A Recent Growth Industry 90

Global piracy is on the increase, putting shipping in some areas in jeopardy.

Part 6 Management of Coastal and Marine Areas 92

Integrated Coastal and Ocean Management 94

Coastal management efforts have accelerated since the 1970s, but debate continues as to what constitutes a credible plan.

International Management Plans 96

Virtually every sea now has a management program in place, unfortunately, only a handful have been implemented.

International Management Plans: The Mediterranean 98

Marine Protected Areas 100

Marine protected areas represent less than one percent of ocean area - too small an area to protect marine ecosystems and biodiversity.

Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) 102

LMEs account for the majority of the world's fish catches, as well as receiving most of the pollution entering the seas.

Marine Ecosystems and Species in Peril 104

Our collective failure to act to protect the seas leaves many marine ecosystems and species critically endangered.

Coasts and Oceans Data 106

Sources 116

Index 126

Editorial Reviews

”An excellent one-stop resource for graphical and pictorial information on a wide range of topics, focusing on the damaging effects of human activities on marine life and the importance of conservation efforts to preserve the oceans.”—Choice

Choice

For those who like maps and numbers, this atlas illustrates the pressures bearing down on the world’s coasts and inshore waters and the pressures created, in turn, for people who live near coasts (most of the world’s population) and whose livelihoods depend directly or indirectly on the sea.

Foreign Affairs