The Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man and the Sea

The Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man and the Sea

by Callum Roberts
The Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man and the Sea

The Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man and the Sea

by Callum Roberts

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Overview

A Silent Spring for oceans, written by "the Rachel Carson of the fish world" (The New York Times)

Who can forget the sense of wonder with which they discovered the creatures of the deep? In this vibrant hymn to the sea, Callum Roberts—one of the world’s foremost conservation biologists—leads readers on a fascinating tour of mankind’s relationship to the sea, from the earliest traces of water on earth to the oceans as we know them today. In the process, Roberts looks at how the taming of the oceans has shaped human civilization and affected marine life.

We have always been fish eaters, from the dawn of civilization, but in the last twenty years we have transformed the oceans beyond recognition. Putting our exploitation of the seas into historical context, Roberts offers a devastating account of the impact of modern fishing techniques, pollution, and climate change, and reveals what it would take to steer the right course while there is still time. Like Four Fish and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, The Ocean of Life takes a long view to tell a story in which each one of us has a role to play.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781101583562
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date: 05/24/2012
Sold by: Penguin Group
Format: eBook
Pages: 432
Sales rank: 414,566
File size: 6 MB
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

Callum Roberts is the author of The Unnatural History of the Sea, a Washington Post Book of the Year and winner of the Rachel Carson Environment Book Award. Professor of marine conservation at the University of York. He has appeared in several documentaries, including "America Before Columbus" and "The End of the Line," and is a board member of Seaweb, a U.S.-based environmental group. He lives in England.

Table of Contents

Prologue 1

Part 1 Changing Seas

1 Four and a Half Billion Years 11

2 Food from the Sea 27

3 Fewer Fish in the Sea 42

4 Winds and Currents 58

5 Life on the Move 80

6 Rising Tides 90

7 Corrosive Seas 105

8 Dead Zones and the World's Great Rivers 119

9 Unwholesome Waters 132

10 The Age of Plastic 149

11 The Not So Silent World 165

12 Aliens, Invaders, and the Homogenization of Life 181

13 Pestilence and Plague 198

14 Mare Incognitum 213

15 Ecosystems at Your Service 229

Part 2 Changing Course

16 Farming the Sea 243

17 The Great Cleanup 263

18 Can We Cool Our Warming World? 273

19 A New Deal for the Oceans 287

20 Life Renewed 307

21 Saving the Giants of the Sea 319

22 Preparing for the Worst 334

Epilogue: The Sea Ahead 347

Appendix 1 Seafood with a Clear Conscience 351

Appendix 2 Conservation Charities Working to Protect Ocean Life 355

Notes 361

Acknowledgments 393

Index 395

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Those of us who worry about the future of our oceans could do a lot worse than take up this single refrain, ‘Listen to Callum Roberts!’ Shouted in the ears of the world’s leaders, it might just make a difference. Meanwhile we should all read The Ocean of Life, a thrilling narrative of oceanic natural history and a vital call to action.” —Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, chef and author of The River Cottage Cookbook

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