In March 2007, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that the combined land and ocean temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere for December 2006 through February 2007 were 1.3°F higher than average, based on records dating back to 1880. Climate change has the potential to wreak havoc on oceanic ecosystems, as the contributors to Oceans report. An accessible collection of thirty articles published in Scientific American in the last decade, the collection considers, in addition to global warming and its devastating effects, the origins of the world’s oceans, the diversity of life in the water, the state of global fisheries, the dangers of natural disasters, and the future of marine conservation. With a breadth of topics as wide as the ocean is deep, this timely guide offers the nonscientist an opportunity to appreciate the importance of this expansive—and fragile—frontier.
Read the press release.