This broad volume contains a wealth on information on evolution, ecology and conservation of the oceanic ecosystem, and depicts how the oceans are threatened by human activities that lead to pollution, oil spills and global warming. There are five subsections dealing with ‘origins’, ‘marine life’, ‘fisheries’, ‘dangerous water’ and ‘the oceans in peril’ each containing chapters that have already been published by numerous contributing authors. Although the level of detail varies among the chapters, the book is interesting and addresses its title very well. The authors have done a remarkable job of assembling facts, figures and insights to produce a comprehensive view of the oceans.
The first part on ‘origins’ contains six chapters that explain geological studies aimed at understanding the movement of tectonic plates that sculpts the surface, the intimate links between the Earth's inner and outer realms, origins of life on Earth and the gases that were present in the nascent stages of the Earth's history.
The second part on ‘marine life’ offers an overview of oceanic biodiversity and the efforts by scientists to study marine life. For example, P.G. Falkowski describes fertilization experiments that have been used to understand phytoplankton behaviour, while B.H. Robison describes exploration studies on sea creatures in mid waters to understand life in the undersea. In still another example of the great marine biodiversity, J. Marshall describes the variety and mysteries of colour in reef fishes. Two chapters, one by T.J. O'Shea on manatees and another by F.H. Martini on secrets of the slime hag, highlight how habitat destruction and trade are affecting marine creatures. This subsection introduces the issues addressed in the following subsection on fisheries quite well.
In the third subsection, the book examines the problems facing world fisheries, with authors urging that conservation measures are needed if stocks are to be sustained. One chapter by D. Pauly and R. Watson and another by C. Safina explain how fishing is wreaking havoc on marine ecosystems; they call for ecosystem-based approaches to management, including the use of no-take marine reserves. A chapter by C.E. Boyd and J.W. Clay explains how attempts to relieve the pressures on world fisheries through aquaculture have not been widely accepted because of environmental concerns. Further, cultured fish are usually fed on fish meal that comes from small pelagics such as herrings and sardines, hence worsening the problem. Other problems facing world fisheries, presented as separate chapters in the book, include difficulties in data collection, law enforcement, the use of destructive fishing methods such as cyanide to catch fish for aquaria and the shark trade that has resulted in dwindling shark populations.
The fourth part of the book contains five chapters on earthquakes, tsunamis and changes in climate. The authors of these chapters describe the mechanisms and the threats posed by earthquakes and tsunamis, and emphasize that these threats are bound to increase as climate becomes extreme. They highlight initiatives that are intended to understand and predict future climate changes, such as the Global Climate Observing System. A chapter by E.L. Geist, V.V. Titov and C.E. Synolakis gives a brief account of the 26 December 2004 tsunami that devastated villages and cities along south-eastern Indian Ocean coastlines and summarizes the challenges faced in trying to save life in the future.
The final subsection of the book on ‘the ocean in peril’ has eight chapters that describe the major problems faced by oceans. These include pollution, oil spills and global warming. Oil spills can be quite damaging to the marine environment, while increased nutrient input into the oceans and pollution have enriched the abundance of algae causing red tides. Global warming is a major challenge facing the oceans and action is needed very soon, as there is increasing evidence that sea surface temperature is rising, while climate predictions and ways of making CO2 emission reduction profitable (for example through carbon capture and storage) require improvement.
This book targets a wide audience including students, geographers, environmentalists, fisheries managers and policy makers. The flow could have been improved by a better arrangement of the sequence of the chapters in each of the subsections. However, the book's presentation is accessible and thought-provoking, introducing readers to the issues facing the oceans in a novel way.
