Search

Lit Hub's Most Anticipated of 2021 A beautiful and engaging guide to global warming's impacts around the world“The direction in which our planet is headed isn't a good one, and most of us don't know how to change it. The bad news is that we will experience great loss. The good news is that we already have what we need to build a better future.” —from the introductionOur planet is in peril. Seas are rising, oceans are acidifying, ice is melting, coasts are flooding, species are dying, and communities are faltering. Despite these dire circumstances, most of us don't have a clear sense of how the interconnected crises in our ocean are affecting the climate system, food webs, coastal cities, and biodiversity, and which solutions can help us co-create a better future. Through a rich combination of place-based storytelling, clear explanations of climate science and policy, and beautifully rendered maps that use a unique ink-on-dried-seaweed technique, The Atlas of Disappearing Places depicts twenty locations across the globe, from Shanghai and Antarctica to Houston and the Cook Islands. The authors describe four climate change impacts—changing chemistry, warming waters, strengthening storms, and rising seas—using the metaphor of the ocean as a body to draw parallels between natural systems and human systems. Each chapter paints a portrait of an existential threat in a particular place, detailing what will be lost if we do not take bold action now. Weaving together contemporary stories and speculative “future histories” for each place, this work considers both the serious consequences if we continue to pursue business as usual, and what we can do—from government policies to grassroots activism—to write a different, more hopeful story. A beautiful work of art and an indispensable resource to learn more about the devastating consequences of the climate crisis—as well as possibilities for individual and collective action—The Atlas of Disappearing Places will engage and inspire readers on the most pressing issue of our time. Locations include: Houston, Texas Shanghai, China Hamburg, Germany San Juan, Puerto Rico New York City, New York Pisco, Peru Kisite, Kenya Kure Atoll, Hawaii Camden, Maine The Cook Islands San Francisco, California Norfolk, Virginia Bến Tre, Vietnam Ise, Japan Gravesend, United Kingdom

Marine extremes, as they are conceived of in this volume, encompass environments, activities, events and impacts. Extreme environments found in and around our oceans, including the deep sea and seabed as well as the frozen polar regions, are being seriously affected by both extreme behaviours (dumping and discharge of waste, illegal fishing and piracy) and extreme events (storms, tsunamis, extreme waves and marine heatwaves). The aim of this book is to highlight the multi-disciplinary knowledge and inputs needed to address marine extremes and thereafter to explore opportunities and current challenges. Safe and healthy oceans are important for economic, recreational and cultural activities, in addition to the maintenance of ecosystem services upon which we rely. This volume gathers a unique mix of researchers working on scientific aspects of biological ecosystems and physical processes together with social scientists exploring law and governance options, community preferences, cultural values, economic aspects and criminological drivers and approaches. The multi-disciplinary feature of this book breaks down barriers that arise between disparate fields of research so that integrated solutions to ocean challenges can be found. Overall, this book argues that if we are to achieve sustainable utilisation of our oceans and blue economy goals we must better understand, and respond to, the extreme environments, activities, events and impacts.The book is a valuable addition to the literature and will be of interest to researchers in marine science, ocean governance and natural resource economics, as well as to professionals and government officials concerned with marine policy and planning.

Por que o destino dos oceanos e o nosso é um só? Esta é a questão que abre A Terra é azul, um misto de relato pessoal, ensaio científico e resumo histórico sobre a impossibilidade de continuarmos ignorando o impacto da extração e da exploração marítima em nosso planeta. Este novo clássico escrito após o derramamento de petróleo no golfo do México, em 2010, aponta argumentos convincentes de que é chegada a hora de uma mudança na relação entre os mares e a ação do homem, ainda ignorada, diminuída e mascarada, sobretudo pela indústria e pelos governantes. Do mais ínfimo crustáceo até as gigantescas baleias jubarte, passando por criaturas bioluminescentes e recifes de corais, todas as espécies oceânicas têm como porta-voz Sylvia A. Earle – oceanógrafa eleita pela Times a primeira'heroína do planeta'.

The researcher who discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch—and remains one of today's key advocates for plastic pollution awareness—inspires a fundamental rethinking of the modern Plastic Age. In 1997, environmentalist Charles Moore discovered the world's largest collection of floating trash—the Great Pacific Garbage Patch ('GPGP')—while sailing from Hawaii to California. Moore was shocked by the level of pollution that he saw. And in the last 20 years, it's only gotten worse—a 2018 study has found that the vast dump of plastic waste swirling in the Pacific Ocean is now bigger than France, Germany, and Spain combined—far larger than previously feared.In Plastic Ocean, Moore recounts his ominous findings and unveils the secret life of plastics. From milk jugs and abandoned fishing gear to polymer molecules small enough to penetrate human skin and be unknowingly inhaled, plastic is now suspected of contributing to a host of ailments, including infertility, autism, thyroid dysfunction, and certain cancers. An urgent call to action, Plastic Ocean's sobering revalations have been embraced by activists, concerned parents, and anyone alarmed by the deadly impact and implications of this man-made environmental catastrophe.

The marine environment is one of our most precious yet fragile natural resources. It provides a wide range of essential goods and services, including food, regulation of climate and nutrient cycling, as well as a setting for transport, recreation and tourism. This environment is however extremely complex and very sensitive to development pressures and other forms of human influence. Planning and management of the sea are similarly complicated, reflecting intricate legal, institutional and ownerships patterns. This creates a situation where marine ecosystems are vulnerable to over-exploitation or neglect. The Ecosystem Approach to Marine Planning and Management describes how growing concern about the state of our seas is resulting in the development of new approaches to marine planning and management. For example, the United Nations Environment Programme has called for the widespread introduction of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP), and the European Union has recently been consulting on a new European Maritime Policy designed to stimulate economic growth but at the same time protect the resource base. Within the United Kingdom, the 2010 Marine Act draws upon the experience of town and country planning and brings into being a new system of Marine Spatial Planning. The authors show that a common feature of all these developments is an appreciation that more integrated forms of planning and management are required for our seas and that new arrangements must draw together understanding from natural science, social science and many other perspectives. Adopting such a trans-disciplinary and holistic (or'ecosystems') approach, the book distils the expertise of these different disciplines and seeks to promote a broader understanding of the origins and practicalities of new approaches to marine planning and management.

Our knowledge of the oceans is increasing rapidly, as more powerful tools for exploration and exploitation make it easier to locate valuable resources, such as fish stocks, oil and gas reserves, or sites for wind and hydropower schemes. At the same time competition for space has intensified, affecting marine life and people's livelihoods. Much has been written about marine management using marine protected areas, but MPAs are only a small subset of spatial management tools available. MPAs and MPA networks are better seen as starting points for more comprehensive spatial management, facilitated by ocean zoning. This logical scaling up from discreet piecemeal protected areas to larger and more systematic planning is happening around the world, but few are aware that we are entering a brave new world in ocean management with zoning at its core. This book provides guidance on using ocean zoning to improve marine management. It reviews the benefits of ocean zoning in theory, reviews progress made in zoning around the world through a wide range of case studies, and derives lessons learned to recommend a process by which future zoning can be maximally effective and efficient. Published with MARES, Forest Trends and UNEP