Coasts in Crisis

Coastal regions around the world have become increasingly crowded, intensively developed, and severely exploited. Hundreds of millions of people living in these low-lying areas are subject to short-term coastal hazards such as cyclones, hurricanes, and destruction due to El Niño, and are also exposed to the long-term threat of global sea-level rise. These massive concentrations of people expose often-fragile coastal environments to the runoff and pollution from municipal, industrial, and agricultural sources as well as the impacts of resource exploitation and a wide range of other human impacts. Can environmental impacts be reduced or mitigated and can coastal regions adapt to natural hazards?
 
Coasts in Crisis is a comprehensive assessment of the impacts that the human population is having on the coastal zone globally and the diverse ways in which coastal hazards impact human settlement and development. Gary Griggs provides a concise overview of the individual hazards, risks, and issues threatening the coastal zone.

Gary Griggs is Distinguished Professor of Earth Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is author or coauthor of Introduction to California’s Beaches and Coast, Living with the Changing California Coast, California Coast from the Air, The Santa Cruz Coast (Then and Now), and Our Ocean Backyard.

Preface
Acknowledgments

PART ONE. INTRODUCTION TO HUMANS AND COASTS
1. Human Settlement of the Coastal Zone

PART TWO. NATURAL PROCESSES AND HAZARDS AFFECTING COASTAL REGIONS
2. Coastal Tectonics and Hazards
3. Tropical Cyclones, Hurricanes, and Typhoons
4. Storms, Waves, Coastal Erosion, and Shoreline Retreat
5. Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise

PART THREE. IMPACTS OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON COASTS
6. Marine Pollution
7. Plastic and Marine Debris
8. Petroleum and the Coastal Zone
9. Coastal Power Plants
10. Renewable Energy from the Coastal Zone
11. Groundwater and Petroleum Withdrawal: Subsidence and Seawater Intrusion
12. Desalination: Fresh Water from the Ocean
13. Carbon Dioxide, Climate Change, and Ocean Acidification
14. Coral Reefs and Threats to Their Health and Survival
15. Fishing, Overfishing, and Aquaculture
16. Aquatic Invasive Species
17. Sand, Dams, and Beaches

Index