This book gives a comprehensive treatment of coastal evolution and dynamics, providing background for the study of coastal landforms and how and why they are changing, with up to date information, world-wide coverage of examples, numerous illustrations and extensive references to the scientific literature. Coastal Geomorphology: An Introduction gives a systematic approach to the subject of coastal geomorphology, dealing with the shaping of landforms, the changing levels of land and sea, the array of coastal processes that have influenced the shaping of landforms and the changes that are taking place on them. It analyses the causes of erosion and accretion on sectors of the coastline and examines the factors that have contributed to these, preparing the way for management strategies. This book includes discussions on the effects that human activities have had on coasts and their continuing contributions to coastal landform changes. This book is an essential read for undergraduate and graduate students in geomorphology, geography, marine science and coastal management courses, anyone concerned with coastal planning, development and management, and organisations concerned with conservation and use of the coast.

From prehistoric times to the present, the Ocean has been used as a highway for trade, a source of food and resources, and a space for recreation and military conquest, as well as an inspiration for religion, culture, and the arts. The Ocean Reader charts humans' relationship to the Ocean, which has often been seen as a changeless space without a history. It collects familiar, forgotten, and previously unpublished texts from all corners of the world. Spanning antiquity to the present, the volume's selections cover myriad topics including the slave trade, explorers from China and the Middle East, shipwrecks and castaways, Caribbean and Somali pirates, battles and U-boats, narratives of the Ocean's origins, and the devastating effects of climate change. Containing gems of maritime writing ranging from myth, memoir, poetry, and scientific research to journalism, song lyrics, and scholarly writing, The Ocean Reader is the essential guide for all those wanting to understand the complex and long history of the Ocean that covers over 70 percent of the planet.

The 6e of "Descriptive Physical Oceanography" provides an introduction to descriptive physical oceanography for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. The emphasis is on large-scale oceanography, based mainly in observations, with some topics from waves and coastal oceanography also included. Topics include the physical properties of seawater, heat and salt budgets, instrumentation, data analysis methods, introductory dynamics, oceanography and climate variability of each of the oceans and of the global ocean, and brief introductions to the physical setting, waves, and coastal oceanography.
Expanded ocean basin descriptions, including ocean climate variability, emphasizing dynamical contextNew chapters on global ocean circulation and introductory ocean dynamics Companion website containing PowerPoint figures, supplemental chapters, and practical exercises for analyzing a global ocean data set using Java OceanAtlas

How do you dig up a 13,000 year-old footprint? Why do kelp forests need sea otters? How do you measure a shrinking glacier from an airplane? What is a 'zombie urchin'? Heart of the Coast brings these questions to life in a deep exploration of the beauty, mystery and biodiversity of the Pacific coast. Join Hakai Institute researchers in the field-archaeologists, oceanographers, marine biologists and beyond-as they journey from the ice fields of Klinaklini Glacier to the dazzling undersea reefs of a place called Crazy Town. British Columbia's Central Coast is a rich landscape called "a biologist's dream" and "the Amazon of the north." Since launching its Calvert Island ecological observatory there in 2009, the Hakai Institute has become a renowned centre of science and exploration. Collaborations with the Smithsonian Institution, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and several First Nations on the BC coast--along with a wide array of scientists hailing from other agencies and universities across North America-have uncovered new species, advanced our knowledge of marine food webs, and helped track the effects of climate change on watersheds and coastal ecosystems. Stunning photography illuminates the institute's journey of discovery over the past decade. This unforgettable book will inspire you with wonder and awe for the natural world, but be careful-you may learn something along the way.

This title articulates a valuable new approach to managing marine ecosystems. Conventional management approaches cannot meet the challenges faced by ocean and coastal ecosystems today. Consequently, national and international bodies have called for a shift toward more comprehensive ecosystem-based marine management. Synthesizing a vast amount of current knowledge, "Ecosystem-Based Management for the Oceans" is a comprehensive guide to utilizing this promising new approach. At its core, ecosystem-based management (EBM) is about acknowledging connections. Instead of focusing on the impacts of single activities on the delivery of individual ecosystem services, EBM focuses on the array of services that we receive from marine systems, the interactive and cumulative effects of multiple human activities on these coupled ecological and social systems, and the importance of working towards common goals across sectors. "Ecosystem-Based Management for the Oceans" provides a conceptual framework for students and professionals who want to understand and utilize this powerful approach. And it employs case studies that draw on the experiences of EBM practitioners to demonstrate how EBM principles can be applied to real-world problems. The book emphasizes the importance of understanding the factors that contribute to social and ecological resilience - the extent to which a system can maintain its structure, function, and identity in the face of disturbance. Utilizing the resilience framework, professionals can better predict how systems will respond to a variety of disturbances, as well as to a range of management alternatives. "Ecosystem-Based Management for the Oceans" presents the latest science of resilience, while it provides tools for the design and implementation of responsive EBM solutions.

In order to understand the state of the oceans, researchers turn to the origins of global waters, 90 million years ago. This study explores the subject of sea-level change in the Phanerozoic era, a topic which has much relevance to current issues of climatic shifts and the greenhouse effect.

Professor Bennett's work explores the potential for inverse theory, emphasizing possibilities rather than expedient or rudimentary applications. In addition to interpolating the data and adding realism to the model solutions, the methods can yield estimates for unobserved flow variables, forcing fields, and model parameters. Inverse formulations can resolve ill-posed modeling problems, lead to design criteria for oceanic observing systems, and enable the testing of models as scientific hypothesis. Ocean models considered range from linear, finite-dimensional systems of equality and inequality constraints, to nonlinear, regional primitive-equation models. Examples from the recent oceanographic literature are analyzed, and several outstanding research problems are surveyed. The methods employ solution techniques including Kalman filters and smoothers, representer expansions and descent algorithms. Exercises of varying difficulty rehearse technical skills and supplement the central theoretical development.

This Book compliles Current Charts and Tide Prints for Puget Sound. Current Charts show the values of the currents at each reference station. There is one chart for every hour throughout the cycle. They are indexed to the tidal current at Admiralty Inlet. Tide Prints show the flow patterns and how they evolve throughout the current cycle. There is one print for every 3 hours throughout the cycle. They are indexed to the tide height in Seattle. Comparing Tide Prints and Current Charts shows the locations of eddies and bands of current, and how these bands and eddies move and interact as the current cycle evolves. These are both perpetual publications, good for any year.

The existing oceans are geologically relatively young. They formed when a large supercontinent (Pangaea) broke apart some 150 Ma ago. The mid-oceanic ridges are narrow belts of submarine mountains marking the boundaries between plates which are moving apart, with new oceanic crust being created at the same time. Under the continents oceanic crust is subducted. The ocean bottom is an ideal location to study recent geodynamic processes on Earth. Of special interest for the reader will be the combination of the most recent oceanographic data with ophiolites, representing fossil ocean crust, obducted onto the continents by tectonic processes. The book is mainly written for students, teachers and scientists in the broad field of geosciences. In addition, it will be of interest to a broad readership since the text is accompanied by figures, most in color, of excellent quality and significance.

Estuaries are complex and fascinating natural environments, where constantly changing water depths generate rapidly reversing currents and transport vast quantities of salt, heat, and sediment on a daily basis. Estuaries: Monitoring and Modeling the Physical System examines these processes, offering extensive information about the geological evolution of estuaries, and details of bathymetry, tides, currents, salt and heat, and suspended sediment. By carefully building a working computer model which accurately emulates the complexities inherent in estuaries, students learn quickly to model the tides and currents, and then to build and test salinity, temperature, and suspended sediment modules. The book is strongly supported by a website at www.blackwellpublishing.com/hardisty which includes: Regularly updated Dynamic Internet References Excel routines for individual formulae and diagrams Full coding for the estuarine model THE ANALYSIS OF TIDAL STREAM POWER - For Jack Hardisty's new book and the accompanying website please click here: http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-047072451X.html

Vast Expanses is a cultural, environmental and geopolitical history that examines the relationship between humans and oceans, reaching back across geological and evolutionary time and exploring different cultures around the globe. Our ancient connections with the sea have developed and multiplied with industrialization and globalization, a trajectory that runs counter to Western depictions of the ocean as a place remote from and immune to human influence. This book argues that knowledge about the ocean - discovered through work and play, scientific investigation, and also through the ambitions people have harboured for the sea - has played a central role in defining our relationship with this vast, trackless and opaque place. It has helped people exploit marine resources, control ocean space, extend imperial or national power, and attempt to refashion the sea into a more tractable arena for human activity. An understanding of the ocean has animated and strengthened connections between people and their seas. To comprehend this history we must address questions of how, by whom and why knowledge of the ocean was created and used, in both the past and the present; through this, we can forge a healthier relationship with the sea for the future.

Ocean Mixing: Drivers, Mechanisms and Impacts presents a broad panorama of one of the most rapidly-developing areas of marine science. It highlights the state-of-the-art concerning knowledge of the causes of ocean mixing, and a perspective on the implications for ocean circulation, climate, biogeochemistry and the marine ecosystem. This edited volume places a particular emphasis on elucidating the key future questions relating to ocean mixing, and emerging ideas and activities to address them, including innovative technology developments and advances in methodology. Ocean Mixing is a key reference for those entering the field, and for those seeking a comprehensive overview of how the key current issues are being addressed and what the priorities for future research are. Each chapter is written by established leaders in ocean mixing research; the volume is thus suitable for those seeking specific detailed information on sub-topics, as well as those seeking a broad synopsis of current understanding. It provides useful ammunition for those pursuing funding for specific future research campaigns, by being an authoritative source concerning key scientific goals in the short, medium and long term. Additionally, the chapters contain bespoke and informative graphics that can be used in teaching and science communication to convey the complex concepts and phenomena in easily accessible ways.

The tide is the greatest synchronised movement of matter on our planet. Every drop of seawater takes part in tidal motion, driven by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun. At the coast, we see the tide as a twice-daily rise and fall of sea level that moves the edge of the sea up and down a beach or cliff-face. In some places, the tide is small but at others it can rise in a few hours by the height of a three storey building; it then has to be treated with great respect by those who live and work by the sea. In this Very Short Introduction David George Bowers and Emyr Martyn Roberts explore what we know about the tides. Blending clear explanations of well known tidal phenomena with recent insights in the deep ocean and coastal seas, Bowers and Roberts use examples from around the world, to tell the story of the tide, considering its nature and causes, its observation and prediction, and unusual tides and their relevance. They explore why tides have attracted the attention of some of the world's greatest scientists, from the initial challenge of explaining why there are two tides a day when the moon and sun pass overhead just once; a problem that was solved by Isaac Newton. In the 19th century, scientists unravelled the rhythms of the tide; good tidal predictions in the form of tide tables were then possible. The predictions were made on beautiful tide predicting machines constructed of brass and mahogany, some of which can still be seen in maritime museums. In the 20th century, the importance of tides as mixers of sea water became evident. As Bowers and Roberts explore, tidal mixing of the ocean is essential for maintaining its deep circulation, a key part of the climate-control system of our planet. In inshore waters, tidal mixing enhances biological productivity, influences sea temperature and turbidity and creates dramatic features such as maelstroms and tidal bores. In the 21st century, space probes are examining the effects of tidal processes on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn and the possibility of tidally-heated liquid oceans with their own ecosystems. Looking to the cutting edge of tidal research, Bowers and Roberts also consider how we can study the role of the tide in the geological and biological evolution of our own planet with innovative computer models. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Based on five decades of research and observation, a haunting and unsparing look at the melting ice caps, and what their disappearance will mean. Peter Wadhams has been studying ice first-hand since 1970, completing 50 trips to the world's poles and observing for himself the changes over the course of nearly five decades. His conclusions are stark: the ice caps are melting. Following the hottest summer on record, sea ice in September 2016 was the thinnest in recorded history. There is now the probability that within a few years the North Pole will be ice-free for the first time in 10,000 years, entering what some call the "Artic death spiral." As sea ice, as well as land ice on Greenland and Antarctica, continues to melt, the rise in sea levels will devastate coastal communities across the world. The collapse of summer ice in the Artic will release large amounts of methane currently trapped by offshore permafrost. Methane has twenty-three times greater greenhouse warming effect per molecule than CO2; an ice-free arctic summer will therefore have an albedo effect nearly equivalent to that of the last thirty years. A sobering but urgent and engaging book, A Farewell to Ice shows us ice's role on our planet, its history, and the true dimensions of the current global crisis, offering readers concrete advice about what they can do, and what must be done.

Human health and well-being are tied to the vitality of the global ocean and coastal systems on which so many live and rely. We engage with these extraordinary environments to enhance both our health and our well-being. But, we need to recognize that introducing contaminants and otherwise altering these ocean systems can harm human health and well-being in significant and substantial ways. These are complex, challenging, and critically important themes. How the human relationship to the oceans evolves in coming decades may be one of the most important connections in understanding our personal and social well-being. Yet, our understanding of this relationship is far too limited. This remarkable volume brings experts from diverse disciplines and builds a workable understanding of breadth and depth of the processes both social and environmental that will help us to limit future costs and enhance the benefits of sustainable marine systems. In particular, the authors have developed a shared view that the global coastal environment is under threat through intensified natural resource utilization, as well as changes to global climate and other environmental systems. All these changes contribute individually, but more importantly cumulatively, to higher risks for public health and to the global burden of disease. This pioneering book will be of value to advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students taking courses in public health, environmental, economic, and policy fields. Additionally, the treatment of these complex systems is of essential value to the policy community responsible for these questions and to the broader audience for whom these issues are more directly connected to their own health and well-being. "The seas across this planet and their effects on human society and its destiny are a fascinating subject for analysis and insights derived from intellectual inquiry. This diverse and complex subject necessarily requires a blending of knowledge from different disciplines, which the authors of this volume have achieved with remarkable success." "The following pages in this volume are written in a lucid and very readable style, and provide a wealth of knowledge and insightful analysis, which is a rare amalgam of multi-disciplinary perspectives and unique lines of intellectual inquiry. It is valuable to get a volume such as this, which appeals as much to a non-specialist reader as it does to those who are specialists in the diverse but interconnected subjects covered in this volume." (From the "Foreword" written by, R K Pachauri, Director General, TERI and Chairman, IPCC)

This book reviews the origin, development, morphology, environment and ecology of the world's coastal lagoons. There are particularly extensive series of lagoons - areas of salt or brackish water separated from the adjacent sea by a low-lying sand or shingle barrier - along the eastern and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the USA, in Mexico itself, in Brazil, West Africa, Natal, southern and eastern India, south-west and south-east Australia, Alaska, Siberia and around the shores of the Mediterranean, southern Baltic, Black and Caspian Seas. In several of these areas they support important fisheries. This book summarises what is known of the formation and fate of lagoons, the lagoonal environment, lagoonal ecology, the strategies of lagoonal species, the human use of lagoons, besides containing a general introduction and a section on methods for the study of coastal lagoons.

This new and completely updated edition gives a detailed description of radiative transfer processes at a level accessible to advanced students. The volume gives the reader a basic understanding of global warming and enhanced levels of harmful ultraviolet radiation caused by ozone depletion. It teaches the basic physics of absorption, scattering and emission processes in turbid media, such as the atmosphere and ocean, using simple semi-classical models. The radiative transfer equation, including multiple scattering, is formulated and solved for several prototype problems, using both simple approximate and accurate numerical methods. In addition, the reader has access to a powerful, state-of-the-art computational code for simulating radiative transfer processes in coupled atmosphere-water systems including snow and ice. This computational code can be regarded as a powerful educational aid, but also as a research tool that can be applied to solve a variety of research problems in environmental sciences.

Ocean Hotspots provides a comprehensive overview of recent and ongoing research on intraplate volcanism in the ocean basins with special emphasis on the Pacific Ocean. The geology of the seamounts and their associated seamount chains is described, along with detailed geophysical, geochemical and hydrothermal observations made by a multi-disciplinary group of marine geoscientists. These observations lead to a deeper understanding of how the ascending mantle melts, represented by hotspots, are able to penetrate the lithosphere, build seamounts, and enhance hydrothermal circulation. The "fixed" hotspot-generated seamount chains also provide key constraints on plate tectonic reconstructions on the Earth's crust.

Charles Birkeland Living coral is a thin veneer, measured in millimeters. Yet this thin film of living tissue has shaped the face of the Earth by creating limestone structures sometimes over 1,300 m thick from the surface down to its base on volcanic rock (Enewetak Atoll), or over 2,000 km long (Great Barrier Reef). About half the world's coastlines are in the tropics and about a third of the tropical coastlines are made of coral reef. Archipelagoes of hundreds of atolls such as the Marshalls, the Maldives, the Tuamotus, and most of the Carolines and Kiribati have been fonned by coral. In addition to enlarging high islands (such as the entire northern end of Guam) and extending and protecting coastlines, ancient biogenic reefs have fonned even larger areas on the present continents. Shallow living coral 2 reefs are estimated to presently cover over 600,000 km (Smith, 1978). Coral reefs are dynamic systems, producing limestone at the rate of 400-2,000 tons per hectare per year (Chave et aI. , 1972). The Great Barrier Reef dominates 2 230,000 km and has grown to this size in a geologically brief period of a few million years. Coral reefs influence the chemical balance of the world's oceans. Roughly half the calcium that enters the sea each year around the world, from the north to south poles, is taken up and temporarily bound into coral reefs (Smith, 1978).

This book introduces the general principles of reaction equilibria and kinetics involved in marine geochemical cycles. The major electrolytes dramatically affect the rates and equilibria of the chemical reactions in the sea. In order to understand these interactions, it is necessary to have a detailed knowledge of the major, minor and trace chemical components. This volume is also focused on the development and applications of analytical techniques for accurate determination and speciation in seawater, and on the effect of pollution on the marine environment, since small quantities of other elements may have a significant influence on global chemical cycling. Audience: This book is of value for marine chemists, biogeochemists, ecologists, oceanographers, environmental engineers and analytical chemists.

Invitation to Oceanography, Eighth Edition introduces students to the key concepts from geology, chemistry, physics, and biology as it relates to ocean environments and processes. This comprehensive text helps students learn how scientists interpret data, taking raw knowledge and transforming it into real understanding. As concepts are explained and described with words and numbers, students can apply their learning using questions at the end of each chapter, including the Review of Basic Concepts, Critical-Thinking Essays, and Discovering with Numbers.

Absolutely captivating creatures, seahorses seem like a product of myth and imagination rather than of nature. They are small, elusive, and are named for their heads, which are shaped like miniature ponies with tiny snouts. They swim slowly upright by rapidly fanning their delicate dorsal fin, coil their tails to anchor themselves in a drift, and spend days in a dancing courtship. Afterward, it is the male who carries the female's eggs in his pouch and hatches the young. Seahorses are found worldwide, and they are highly sensitive to environmental destruction and disturbance, making them the flagship species for shallow-water habitat conservation. They are as ecologically important as they are beautiful. Seahorses celebrates the remarkable variety of seahorse species as well as their exquisiteness. 57 species, including seadragons and pipefish, are presented in lush, life-size photographs alongside descriptive drawings, and each entry includes detailed and up-to-date information on natural history and conservation. Sara Lourie, a foremost expert on seahorse taxonomy, presents captivating stories of species that range from less than an inch to over a foot in height, while highlighting recent discoveries and ecological concerns. Accessibly written, but comprehensive in scope, this book will be a stunning and invaluable reference on seahorse evolution, biology, habitat, and behavior. Masters of camouflage and rarely seen, seahorses continue to be a fascinating subject of active research. This visually rich and informative book is certain to become the authoritative guide to these charming and unusual wonders of the sea, beloved at aquariums the world over.

ThisbookdependsonadissertationpreparedattheDepartementofGeosciencesat theUniversityHamburg. ItwasacceptedbytheDepartementwiththegradesumma cumlaudein2008. IwouldliketothankmyacademicadvisorProf. Dr. WilfriedZahelforhisconstant supportandforthelongandconstructivediscussions. Further,IwouldliketothankProf. Dr. Jur .. genSundermann .. forintroducingmeto theInternationalMaxPlanckResearchSchool. TheInternationalMaxPlanckResearchSchoolforMaritimeAffairsandinparticu larProf. Dr. Dr. h. c. Jur .. genBasedowandhisco directorsarethankedforgivingme theopportunitytoperformthisstudyinHamburg. IacknowledgethecomputationalsupportoftheDKRZandNEC,especiallythe helpfulcommentsofKlausKetelsenandJens OlafBeismann. LastbutnotleastmanythankstomywifeJanaSillmannandmysonDariusfor givingmethetimeIneededforthisstudyandprovidingajoyfulandlovinghome. ThisworkhasbeenfundedbytheInternationalMaxPlanckResearchSchoolfor MaritimeAffairsattheUniversityHamburg. Hamburg,August2008 MalteMuller .. Contents Abstract...1 1 Introduction...3 2 TheoryandModel ...7 2. 1 Theory ...7 2. 1. 1 SecondaryForces:TheLoadingandSelf AttractionEffect . 8 2. 1. 2 TheEquationsofMotionandtheEquationofContinuity...11 2. 1. 3 EnergyBalance...1 4 2. 1. 4 ParameterizationoftheLSA AnAnalyticalApproach ...16 2. 2 Model...18 2. 2. 1 TheImplicitlyRestartedArnoldiMethod...19 2. 2. 2 TheParallelizationwithMPI ...21 2. 2. 3 ThePerformanceoftheModel...21 3 TheFreeOscillations...23 3. 1 GravitationalModes...23 3. 1. 1 The? value...24 3. 1. 2 TheIn?uenceoftheLSA ...25 3. 1. 3 TheAntarcticKelvinWave...30 3. 1. 4 NewModes...30 3. 1. 5 TheSlowestModes ...31 3. 2 VorticityModes...32 3. 2. 1 TopographicalVorticityModes...32 3. 2. 2 PlanetaryVorticityModes...34 4 SynthesisofForcedOscillations...39 4. 1 TidalDynamicsandtheIn?uenceofLSA...40 4. 1. 1 TheProcedureofTidalSynthesis...40 4. 1. 2 LSA effectonForcedOscillations...45 4. 1. 3 TheSynthesisoftheSemidiurnalandDiurnalTides...50 xi xii Contents 4. 2 IntegrationoftheSolutionsofaTidalModelwithAssimilationof Data...55 4. 2. 1 NewExpansionCoef?cients...55 4. 2. 2 NewFrequenciesandAdjointEigenfunctions ...59 4. 2. 3 Results...61 4. 2. 4 Summary...70 4. 2. 5 Discussion...71 5 Conclusion ...73 Figures...75 Tables...101 Appendix...105 ListofSymbols ...109 References...113 Index ...1 17 Abstract AnewsetofbarotropicfreeoscillationsoftheWorldOceaniscomputedwithex plicitconsiderationofdissipativetermsandthefulloceanloadingandself attraction effect(LSA). Thissetcontainsfreeoscillationsthatdidnotappearinthespectraof previousstudies. Furthermore,theexpansiontowardslongerperiods(165hours) yieldsnewglobalplanetarymodes. Altogether169freeoscillationsarecomputed withperiodslongerthan7. 7hours. Ofthese,71aregravitationalmodes,92areto pographicallycontrolledvorticitymodes,and6areplanetaryvorticitymodes. The in?uenceoftheLSAisinvestigatedforallthreekindsofmodeswithrespectto changesintheperiodsandinthespatialstructureoftheseasurfaceelevationand thehorizontalmasstransports. Inparticular,formodesinthesemi diurnalanddi urnalperiodrange,theparameterizationoftheLSAisanalyzed. Forthefreeoscillationsintheperiodrangefrom9to40hoursthecorresponding adjointsolutionsarecomputedandusedtosynthesizesemidiurnalanddiurnaltides ofseconddegree. Sincethesefreeoscillationsaredeterminedwithandwithoutcon siderationofthefullLSA effect,thisstudyallowsforadetailedanalysisoftheLSA onthedynamicsofoceantides,e. g. anphysicalexplanationisgivenfortheinduced phasedelaycomputedbyoceantidemodels. Further,thesynthesisgivesaspectral compositionofcertainwellknowntidalfeaturesandpairsoffreeoscillationsare identi?ed,diminishingtheircontributioneitheronaglobalorlocalscale. Further,semidiurnalanddiurnaltidalsolutionsofatidalmodelwithassimilation ofdataareintegratedintheprocedureofsynthesizingtides.

The Earth's climate is already warming due to increased concentrations of human-produced greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and the specter of rising sea level is one of global warming's most far-reaching threats. Sea level will keep rising long after greenhouse gas emissions have ceased, because of the delay in penetration of surface warming to the ocean depths and because of the slow dissipation of excess atmospheric carbon dioxide. Adopting a long perspective that interprets sea level changes both underway and expected in the near future, Vivien Gornitz completes a highly relevant and necessary study of an unprecedented age in Earth's history.

Gornitz consults past climate archives to help better anticipate future developments and prepare for them more effectively. She focuses on several understudied historical events, including the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Anomaly, the Messinian salinity crisis, the rapid filling of the Black Sea (which may have inspired the story of Noah's flood), and the Storrega submarine slide, an incident possibly connected to a sea level occurrence roughly 8,000 years old. By examining dramatic variations in past sea level and climate, Gornitz concretizes the potential consequences of rapid, human-induced warming. She builds historical precedent for coastal hazards associated with a higher ocean level, such as increased damage from storm surge flooding, even if storm characteristics remain unchanged. Citing the examples of Rotterdam, London, New York City, and other forward-looking urban centers that are effectively preparing for higher sea level, Gornitz also delineates the difficult economic and political choices of curbing carbon emissions while underscoring, through past geological analysis, the urgent need to do so.