The State Of Ocean And Marine Science

This edited volume is the premier book dedicated exclusively to marine science education and improving ocean literacy, aiming to showcase exemplary practices in marine science education and educational research in this field on a global scale. It informs, inspires, and provides an intellectual forum for practitioners and researchers in this particular context. Subject areas include sections on marine science education in formal, informal and community settings. This book will be useful to marine science education practitioners (e.g. formal and informal educators) and researchers (both education and science).

Oceans 2020 presents a comprehensive assessment of the most important science and societal issues that are likely to arise in marine science and ocean management in the next twenty years. Sponsored by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR), and the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE), the book brings together the world's leading ocean scientists and researchers to analyze the state of marine science and technology, identify key scientific issues for sustainable development, and evaluate the capability of scientists, governments, and private-sector stakeholders to respond to those issues. Topics include: basic ocean sciences pressures on the coastal zone climate change and the ocean fisheries and fishery science in their search for sustainability offshore industries including oil drilling, carbon sequestration, and manganese nodule mining marine information for shipping and defense Also included are chapters on cross-cutting issues including operational oceanography, ocean instrumentation and technology, developing frameworks for cooperation, and capacity building in developing nations. In addition, the book offers an introductory overview and a "Vision to 2020" that outlines a path to rational ocean governance. In each chapter, contributors give a brief but comprehensive overview of the subject and then consider what has been achieved in recent years, define the problems, outline solutions, and set forth recommendations on the needs for and directions of ocean science in support of sustainable development for the next twenty years. Oceans 2020 suggests what can be done about major marine environmental issues through the better development and application of marine science and technology, focusing on the issues that are most closely related to human and sustainable development. It will help guide countries in developing their marine science and technology strategies and priorities and is an essential source of information for policymakers, government officials, resource managers, scientists, the media, and all those concerned with the current and future health of the oceans.

The world’s oceans cover 70% of the earth’s surface and are home to a myriad of amazing and beautiful creatures. However, the biodiversity of the oceans is incre- ingly coming under serious threat from many human activities including overfi- ing, use of destructive fishing methods, pollution and commercial aquaculture. In addition, climate change is already having an impact on some marine ecosystems. This book discusses some of the major threats facing marine ecosystems by cons- ering a range of topics, under chapters discussing biodiversity (Chapter 1), fisheries (Chapter 2), aquaculture (Chapter 3), pollution (Chapter 4) and the impacts of increasing greenhouse gas emissions (Chapter 5). It goes on to explore solutions to the problems by discussing equitable and sustainable management of the oceans (Chapter 6) and protecting marine ecosystems using marine reserves (Chapter 7). Presently, 76% of the oceans are fully or over-exploited with respect to fishing, and many species have been severely depleted. It is abundantly clear that, in general, current fisheries management regimes are to blame for much of the widespread degradation of the oceans. Many policy-makers and scientists now agree that we must adopt a radical new approach to managing the seas – one that is precautionary in nature and has protection of the whole marine ecosystem as its primary objective. This ‘ecosystem-based approach’ is vital if we are to ensure the health of our oceans for future generations.

The heavily-revised Practical Handbook of Marine Science, Fourth Edition continues its tradition as a state-of-the-art reference that updates the field of marine science to meet the interdisciplinary research needs of physical oceanographers, marine biologists, marine chemists, and marine geologists. This edition adds an entirely new section devoted to Climate Change and Climate Change Effects. It also adds new sections on Estuaries, Beaches, Barrier Islands, Shellfish, Macroalgae, Food Chains, Food Webs, Trophic Dynamics, System Productivity, Physical-Chemical-Biological Alteration, and Coastal Resource Management. The Handbook assembles an extensive international collection of marine science data throughout, with approximately 1,000 tables and illustrations. It provides comprehensive coverage of anthropogenic impacts in estuarine and marine ecosystems from local, regional, and global perspectives. Maintaining its user-friendly, multi-sectional format, this comprehensive resource will also be of value to undergraduate and graduate students, research scientists, administrators, and other professionals who deal with the management of marine resources. Now published in full color, the new edition offers extensive illustrative and tabular reference material covering all the major disciplines related to the sea.

The oceans are our planet's most distinctive and imposing natural habitat. They cover 71 per cent of its surface; support a remarkably diverse and exquisitely adapted array of life forms, from microscopic viruses, bacteria, and plankton to the largest existing animals; and possess many of Earth's most significant, intriguing, and inaccessible ecosystems. In an era in which humans are significantly altering the global environment, the oceans are undergoing rapid and profound changes. The study of marine biology is thus taking on added importance and urgency as people struggle to understand and manage these changes to protect our marine ecosystems. Healthy oceans produce half of the oxygen we breathe; stabilize our climate; create ecosystems that protect our coasts from storms; provide us with abundant food; and host diverse organisms that provide us with natural products for medicine and biotechnology. In this Very Short Introduction, marine biologist Philip Mladenov provides an accessible and up-to-date overview of marine biology, offering a tour of marine life and marine processes that ranges from the unimaginably abundant microscopic organisms that drive the oceans' food web to the apex predators that we exploit for food; from polar ocean ecosystems to tropical coral reefs; and from the luxurious kelp beds of the coastal ocean to deep-ocean hydrothermal vents where life exists without the energy of the sun. Throughout the book he considers the human impacts on marine life including overfishing, plastic and nutrient pollution, the spread of exotic species, and ocean warming and acidification. He discusses the threats these pose to our welfare, and the actions required to put us on a path to a more sustainable relationship with our oceans so that they can be restored and protected for future generations. Mladenov concludes with a new chapter offering an inspiring vision for the future of our oceans in 2050 that can be realised if we are wise enough to accelerate actions already underway and be bold with implementing new approaches. The next decade will decide the state of the oceans that we leave behind for future generations. 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.

We have long been fascinated with the oceans and sought "to pierce the profundity" of their depths. But the history of marine science also tells us a lot about ourselves. Antony Adler explores the ways in which scientists, politicians, and the public have invoked ocean environments in imagining the fate of humanity and of the planet.