The Wealth of Oceans: Environment and Development on Our Ocean Planet - Hardcover

Gradwohl, Judith; Weber, Michael L.

9780393037647: The Wealth of Oceans: Environment and Development on Our Ocean Planet

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393037649 ISBN 13: 9780393037647

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 1995

An adjunct to "Ocean Planet," a major traveling exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution, this fascinating book is the first to explore the newest discoveries in oceanography and marine ecology in the context of the global economy and human population growth.

For thousands of years humanity has seen the oceans as a mysterious and limitless source of treasures to be fished, harvested, mined, and salvaged. Now accelerating developments in ocean studies offer a new understanding of the oceans, their role in a global ecosystem, and their vulnerability to threats from human action. Drawing on the latest research this book offers a fascinating tour of the complex reaches of our ocean world and points the way toward changes that will preserve, rather than squander, the wealth of oceans.

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About the Author:

Judith Gradwohl works at the Smithsonian Institution's Office of Environmental Awareness.

Michael Weber is a member of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Fisheries Department.

From Publishers Weekly:

Companion to a major traveling exhibit mounted by the Smithsonian Institution, this superb introduction to ocean ecology begins by examining the natural history of Chesapeake Bay since European settlement, a striking example of the detrimental effects of human action. Gradwohl, who works at the Office of Environmental Awareness at the Smithsonian, and Weber, a member of the Marine Fisheries Dept. of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, give a brief review of ocean exploration and international cooperation, then move to a lucid explanation of ocean currents. They discuss global change, pollution, fishing and aquaculture (surprisingly, it comes at great environmental cost), population growth and the future of the seas. A major hurdle for the future, they argue, is time; detecting and analyzing environmental problems and making effective responses lag well behind the loss of environmental quality. A thoughtful approach to the relationship between humans and oceans.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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