Ocean's End Travels Through Endangered Seas: Amazon.de: Colin Woodard: Englische Bücher

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Take a pristine coral reef off the mangrove-forested coast of Belize, one that draws a handsome roster of fish and other sea creatures--and, therefore, a complement of scuba divers, sports fishermen, photographers, and other consumers of nature. Add an airstrip to serve these cash customers, then a hotel, then a seawall, then a golf course, then a desalination plant. In no time, thanks to the changes you've wrought on the coastal ecology, you'll have a dead reef in a dead patch of sea.

Such wanton destruction is the norm for today, writes science journalist Colin Woodard, who debarks from his travels on the world's seas with depressing and unremittingly bad news. One of the victims is the Black Sea of Eurasia, once a thriving extension of the Atlantic, now all but destroyed by "overfishing, oil spills, industrial discharges, nutrient pollution, wetlands destruction," and other ills. The ravaged Black Sea is mirrored in other places to which Woodard travels: the South Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico, the Antarctic. In such places significant ecological transformations are occurring, all in a very short period of time, all perhaps irreversible, all certainly dangerous to the health of the biosphere. "The oceans," Woodard urges his readers to consider, "are finite and destructible. Wastes dumped and drained into the ocean do not disappear; they are neither economic nor ecological externalities. Likewise, marine fish and animals are not commodities like iron, wheat, or broilers; they are wildlife." Adding to works such as Carl Safina's Song for the Blue Ocean, Woodard makes a clear and urgent call for the reversal of all this destruction and for the protection of the world's waters. --Gregory McNamee -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verf�gbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

From Kirkus Reviews

A state-of-the-marine-environment message from journalist Woodard (Christian Science Monitor), in which the mood is dark and the tidings grim. Every large body of water is another chapter in a global ``cautionary tale of what can happen when marine environments are treated with reckless abandon,'' writes Woodard. He presents us with a catalog of the ills visited upon great waters by human agents: there is, for example, the matter of overfishing and the habitat degradation that has winnowed fish stocks to bare bones, leaving almost no cod at all where once you could practically walk across their backs from the Faeroes to Newfoundland. There is the ``toxic deluge from a thousand factories, power plants, and paper mills'' that gags the mighty Mississippi; there are the grotesque consequences of nuclear testing and the subsequent cultural aftershocks that plague the Pacific archipelagoes. For sheer ham-fisted abuse, however, it would be hard to find better poster children than the Danube and the Black Sea (a rank sewer that would be better called the Dead Sea, if there weren't already oneor a hundredof those). Woodard wisely airs the positions of the naysayerswho claim that fish stocks are naturally in flux and that the same goes for climatic changeand this gives both a balance to his closely argued case and a sense of humility before all that is genuinely not understood about oceanic processes. He also tenders a score of sensible prescriptive measures (which others might call pipe dreams): reducing government subsidies for fishing vessels, changing our fundamental appreciation of the oceans and seas (and their fragility), and encouraging a global problem-solving approach (since shorelines, whether they know it or not, serve as political boundaries). Woodard's quietly passionate and focused presentation leaves little doubt about the gravity of the water worlds ecological crisis. (Illustrations, not seen)-- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verf�gbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.

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excellent 9. Juli 2000

Von Ein Kunde

Format:Gebundene Ausgabe

Colin Woodard is a very finr reporter. He does what we hope a fine reporter will do, takes us to places we cannot visit ourselves and makes us understand those places, and to see ourselves more clearly. I suppose that it is not entirely surprising that some of the finest reporting being done today is on what is certainly the most important issue now facing the planet: the degradation of our environment. My other favorite of the spring crop of books is Diana Muir's surprisingly delightful Bullough's Pond, Economy and Ecosystem. Read Woodard, the book is a pleasure and you will learn a thing or two along the way. What more could you ask for?

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READ THIS BOOK 2. Juli 2000

Von susan m. o'keeffe

Excellent research, good writing and exceptionally important issues. Anyone who would like to learn more about the oceans, how they function and how we are destroying this life source, should read this book. The author also expertly describes the intimate ties between climate change and the oceans.

The publisher's are missing an opportunity by not supporting this work more; they are also not fulfilling their responsibility to the present and future generations of all living (and endangered) beasts.

A striking portrait of ecological disaster in the making. 5. Juni 2000

Von Midwest Book Review

Ocean's End is an eyewitness account of the state of the world's oceans and provides readers with a call to action. The author spent well over a year traveling the world's seas and talking to fishermen, scientists, researchers and legislators alike. His account in Ocean's End provides a striking portrait of ecological disaster in the making.

amazing book

I loved the book. It amazes me why the publisher didn't do more to get it out there. The lack of attention for these important titles is a crime. Great work Colin

Am 2. Mai 2000 ver�ffentlicht

A warning from one who has seen the future

Woodard's book does for the oceans what Mark Herstgaard's "Earth Odessy" did for the rest of the planet. It sounds the alarm of environment degredation. Lesen Sie weiter...

Ver�ffentlicht am 27. April 2000 von Brian D. Rubendall

a fantastic read

This is a beautifully written and informative book which clearly explains difficult scientific concepts and vividly illustrates a growing problem. Lesen Sie weiter...

Am 24. April 2000 ver�ffentlicht

Ocean's End Travels Through Endangered Seas [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

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