Sea Change: Britain's Coastal Catastrophe - Softcover

Girling, Richard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1905811934 ISBN 13: 9781905811939

Publisher: Eden Project Books, 2012

Synopsis

We have a special relationship with the sea. It is the single most powerful driver of our economy, our lifestyle, and our politics. It affects what we eat, how we use the land, how we relate to our neighbors, how we travel, and even the thickness of our coats. Yet we go on treating it, with childlike faith and unreason, as if we imagine it to be infinitely resourceful and endlessly forgiving. Sea Change addresses such issues as pollution by sewage, nuclear waste dumping at sea, extinction of fish stocks, destruction of the marine environment, impacts of climate change, coastal erosion, rising sea levels, the decline of our seaside resorts, the failure of the "integrated transport policy," and smuggling. In each case, crucial questions are posed. How did the situation arise? What are the consequences? What should be done, and what will happen when we fail? With a unique voice blending horror, humor, and "just fancy that," the author sifts for solutions in the sands, presenting arguments that are utterly compelling, entertaining, and inspirational.

About this title

About the Author:

Richard Girling is a senior feature writer for The Sunday Times Magazine. In 2002 he was named Specialist Writer of the Year in the UK Press Awards and has been shortlisted for this award in 2005 and 2006. He has been a consultant to the former Department of the Environment and the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport and author of campaigns for the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE). He is currently a trustee of the Tree Council.

Review:

"Readers will relish these tales of failing fisheries."  Publishers Weekly

"Anyone who cares about the coast should read this book before it is too late."  Nicholas Crane, author, Mercator

"Richard Girling calls the sea our civilization's 'amniotic fluid.' His story of its violation by oil pollution, over-fishing, climate-change-driven erosion and our belief that we have the wisdom to 'manage' the marine environment is shocking."  Richard Mabey, author, The Flowering of Britain

"For centuries our sea, less our lands, was what characterized us as a people. Now we fly over it, seek it less for work and play, and fail to recognize that it is in crisis. Richard Girling’s wonderfully informed, hard hitting, and inspired account of what is happening on our shoreline shatters this ignorance."  Ronald Blythe, author, Akenfield

"The most brilliant and devastating attack yet written on bungling, political weakness, incompetence and sheer slowness of those who are meant to be in charge of the seas around our shores."  Adam Nicolson, Evening Standard

About this edition

• Publisher: Eden Project Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1905811934
• ISBN 13: 9781905811939
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384