Book description
In this revelatory book, Callum Roberts uses his lifetime's
experience working with the oceans to show why they are the most
mysterious places on earth, their depths still largely unexplored. In
The Ocean of Life we get a panoramic tour beneath the seas:
Why do currents circulate the way do? Where exactly do they go? How
has the chemistry of the oceans changed? How polluted are we making
them? Above all, Roberts reveals the richness of their life, and how
it has altered over the centuries.
The oceans are now under unprecedented threat. Not only does Roberts
show how we are fishing our oceans to extinction, crucially, he
explains how this directly affects our lives on land. Ninety-five
percent of habitable space on earth lies in the oceans, and marine
plants produce half the world's oxygen; the oceans themselves absorb
vast quantities of carbon dioxide. The life they support is now in the balance.
The Ocean of Life should galvanise debate worldwide. Roberts
shows how we can arrest and reverse the damage we are doing.
Tantalisingly, it is within our grasp to restore the life of the
oceans. There is still time.
Callum Roberts is professor of marine conservation at the University
of York. For the last 10 years he has campaigned for stronger protection
for the sea at national and international levels, including advising the
United Nations, European Commission and the European Parliament. He was
on the WWF-US National Council for six years and currently serves as a
Council Member of Fauna and Flora International, a Board Member of
Seaweb and a WWF-UK Ambassador. Callum's first book
The Unnatural
History of the Sea
won the Rachel Carson Environment Book Prize, and was named by The
Washington Post as one of the Best 10 Books of the Year.
