COASTAL PROCESSES II

The book Coastal Processes II contains the papers presented at the Second International Conference on Physical Coastal Processes, Management and Engineering, held in Naples, Italy, April 27-29, 2011. The interdisciplinary conference was convened to facilitate the sharing of research by experts from various disciplines, aiming for an understanding on how vulnerable coastal zones are to man-made activity and extreme natural events, how important it is to protect them, and how much our ability to protect them depends on an understanding of the many processes involved.
The importance of the shared research cannot be over-emphasized.
Coastal zones play a very important role in the world. They account for nearly a quarter of all oceanic biological production, which in turn supplies approximately 80 percent of the world s fish. About 60 percent of the earths' people live in the coastal zone, and around 70 percent of the big cities are placed in this narrow area. It is not a surprise that more than 90 percent of the pollutants generated by human economic activities end up in the coastal zone. It is thus critical to be able to predict the impact of coastal processes.
The papers in the book are organized into chapters on Coastal management, Coastal processes and GIS, Coastal geomorphology, Extreme events and sea level rise, Coastal processes and navigation, Sediment transport and erosion, Interaction between coastal defences and processes, Pollution and dispersion, and Hydrodynamic forces. The book will be of interest to coastal, civil, environmental, and marine engineers in academia, government and industry, especially those involved in research.