Coasts For People

Issues of sustainability and increased competition over coastal resources are changing practices of resource management. Societal concerns about environmental degradation and loss of coastal resources have steadily increased, while other issues like food security, biodiversity, and climate change, have emerged. A full set of social, ecological and economic objectives to address these issues are recognized, but there is no agreement on how to implement them. This interdisciplinary and "big picture book" – through a series of vivid case studies from environments throughout the world – suggests how to achieve these new resource management principles in practical, accessible ways.

Ommer provides a unique interdisciplinary analysis of the social and environmental forces affecting local communities on Canada's east and west coasts.

This book is intended as a conceptual roadmap to show how some of the numerous pieces of complex coastal systems intersect and might interact under changing future environmental regimes. It is addressed to a non-technical but environmentally literate audience that includes the lay public, policy makers, planners, engineers and academics interested in the causes and consequences of global changes as they are likely to affect coastal systems. The book also outlines some strategies for anticipating and responding to the challenges that lie ahead. The purpose is not to offer a technical treatise on how to build better numerical models or to provide the cognoscenti with new scientific details or theories. Quite on the contrary the authors aim to provide a holistic, easy-accessible overview of coastal systems and therefore use a writing style that is non-technical, nonmathematical and non-jargonized throughout. Wherever scientific terms are required to avoid ambiguity, a clear and simple definition is presented and those definitions are repeated in the glossary. The authors aim to communicate with all who care about the future of coastal environments. In Part 1, they present some underlying general “big picture” concepts that are applicable to coastal processes and coastal change worldwide. Part 2 reviews some of the more important physical, ecological and societal causes and outcomes of coastal change. A selection of case studies of some prominent and highly vulnerable coastal regions is presented in Part 3. Some strategies for facilitating and supporting collaboration among the global scientific community to enhance future coastal resilience are outlined in Part 4.

Where oceans, land and atmosphere meet, three dynamic forces contribute to the physical and ecological evolution of coastlines. Coasts are responsive systems, dynamic with identifiable inputs and outputs of energy and material. In chapters illustrated and furnished with topical case studies from around the world, this book establishes the importance of coasts within a systems framework - waves, tides, rivers and sea-level change all play critical roles in the evolution of our coasts.

Coastlines of the world are as diverse as any geological setting onEarth. Beaches and Coasts is an exciting and unique new textbookthat provides an exhaustive treatment of the world's differentcoasts and details the highly varied processes that have shapedthem. Having conducted research on coastlines throughout the world,the authors draw on a wealth of experience that broadens thecontent of chapters and provides for numerous and varied examples.The book furnishes a basic understanding of the tectonic framework,hydrographic regime, climatic setting, and geologic materials thatdetermine the morphology of a coast. Individual chapters aredevoted to major coastal environments such as barriers, tidalinlets, marshes, estuaries, lagoons, deltas, glaciated coasts,rocky coasts and many others. Beaches and Coasts provides the necessary content forteaching a broad coastal geology course. Though designed forintroductory students, its comprehensive treatment of coastaltopics will make it appropriate for many upper level courses. Exciting and unique textbook that provides an exhaustivetreatment of the world's different coasts and details the highlyvaried processes that have shaped them. The authors draw on a wealth of experience that broadens thecontent of chapters and provides for numerous and variedexamples. Provides a basic understanding of the tectonic framework,hydrographic regime, climatic setting, and geologic materials thatdetermine the morphology of a coast. Individual chapters are devoted to major coastal environmentssuch as barriers, tidal inlets, marshes, estuaries, lagoons,deltas, glaciated coasts, rocky coasts, and many others. Provides comprehensive content for teaching a broad coastalgeology course for both introductory and upper level courses.

Ireland is an island surrounded by ocean, with a high percentage of its population living in the coastal zone and has often been referred to as an "island nation". The importance of the coastal zone to Ireland is extremely high, given its economic value from tourism and recreation, fishing, aquaculture, renewable energy, ports and linked industries, as well as its environmental significance. Proximity to the sea has also profoundly influenced Ireland's history, culture and multiple identities. Although there are existing guides about Ireland's coastal geology, physical geography and landscapes, these are fragmented and mostly of a local nature. "Shorelines: The Coastal Atlas of Ireland" will aim to fill this gap by looking at the coastline of the entire island of Ireland as a whole, from the physical, human and environmental perspectives.The Atlas will contribute towards the dissemination and outreach of scientific knowledge about the coasts of Ireland and of the processes that are shaping them, to the broader public, government and decision makers. The Atlas is relevant globally, to all those that are interested in coastal matters and the work is not just about Ireland, but Ireland, as an analogue for many of the world's coasts.Visually stunning, accessible and an academic tour de force, this Atlas will resonate with everybody who has a connection to Ireland and anybody interested in the Irish coast.

A textbook on coastal geomorphology for advanced undergraduates and graduates.

Since before recorded history, people have congregated near water. But as growing populations around the globe continue to flow toward the coasts on an unprecedented scale and climate change raises water levels, our relationship to the sea has begun to take on new and potentially catastrophic dimensions. The latest generation of coastal dwellers lives largely in ignorance of the history of those who came before them, the natural environment, and the need to live sustainably on the world’s shores. Humanity has forgotten how to live with the oceans. In The Human Shore, a magisterial account of 100,000 years of seaside civilization, John R. Gillis recovers the coastal experience from its origins among the people who dwelled along the African shore to the bustle and glitz of today’s megacities and beach resorts. He takes readers from discussion of the possible coastal location of the Garden of Eden to the ancient communities that have existed along beaches, bays, and bayous since the beginning of human society to the crucial role played by coasts during the age of discovery and empire. An account of the mass movement of whole populations to the coasts in the last half-century brings the story of coastal life into the present. Along the way, Gillis addresses humankind’s changing relationship to the sea from an environmental perspective, laying out the history of the making and remaking of coastal landscapes—the creation of ports, the draining of wetlands, the introduction and extinction of marine animals, and the invention of the beach—while giving us a global understanding of our relationship to the water. Learned and deeply personal, The Human Shore is more than a history: it is the story of a space that has been central to the attitudes, plans, and existence of those who live and dream at land’s end.