Sea Change: A Message of the Oceans

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G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1995 - 361 Seiten
"In Sea Change, Sylvia Earle makes it clear that we are currently in a time of pivotal significance regarding the decisions we make for the world's oceans. How we treat them now will determine the future health of the planet - and of our species." "To illustrate the current state of the seas, Earle takes readers on a wide-ranging journey, from the massive oil spills in Prince William Sound and the Persian Gulf, to whaling stations and toxic waste sites, to the Tokyo Fish Market, where thousands of tons of fish are sold daily. With these and other visions in mind, she concludes her book by offering a blueprint for change. Earle gives real suggestions for guaranteeing the survival of the seas, including the establishment of marine sanctuaries and protected areas, and the development of global policies recognizing the interdependence of life and the need for nations to agree on measures to protect and maintain the oceans." "Implementing these changes, says Earle, is crucial for our survival. She adds that while "no one really knows what the consequences will be of ocean dumping, overfishing, oil spills, whale kills, and thousands of other thoughtless actions that chip and gouge away at the healthy functioning of ocean systems, this much is certain: We have the power to damage the sea, but no sure way to heal the harm."" "Sylvia Earle is one of the world's leading advocates for safeguarding the earth's largest - and most vital - natural resource. Her adventures, and her sense of wonder and excitement about the living underwater world, open our eyes to the magnitude of our ignorance about the ocean and inspire us to protect it and respect its role in our lives."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Inhalt

SEA OF EDEN
5
ONWARD AND DOWNWARD
35
BLUE INFINITY
63
Urheberrecht

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Häufige Begriffe und Wortgruppen

Autoren-Profil (1995)

Sylvia Earle can lay claim to the titles marine botanist, environmentalist, businesswoman, writer, and deep-sea explorer. Of them all, the last is perhaps the one that most captures the imagination. She has spent more than 6,000 hours (over seven months) underwater. In 1979, she attached herself to a submarine that took her, at times as fast as 100 feet per minute, to the ocean floor 1,250 feet below. Dressed in a "Jim suit," a futuristic concoction of plastic and metal armor, she made the deepest solo dive ever made without a cable connecting her to a support vessel at the surface. This daring dive is comparable to the NASA voyage to the moon 10 years before. In 1984 Earle became the co-designer (with Graham Hawkes) of Deep Rover, a deep-sea submersible capable of exploring the midwaters of the ocean. Their company, Deep Ocean Technology, went on to develop a second-generation submersible, Deep Flight, that can speed through the ocean at depths of as much as 4,000 feet. Currently under development is Ocean Everest, expected to operate at a depth of up to 35,800 feet, which will take scientists to the deepest parts of the sea. Although the uses of submersibles are still largely scientific, Earle hopes that they might one day transport laypeople to the bottom of the sea. She feels that the "experience of flying through a dark ocean, of watching the lights of a luminescent creature flash all around us" might help us gain more respect for the largely unexplored ocean world. In addition to the scientific work that led to her being appointed in 1990 as chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Earle has worked tirelessly to educate the public. Working with Al Giddings, she coauthored a documentary film, Gentle Giants of the Pacific, which appeared on public television in 1980. In the same year, their book Exploring the Deep Frontier appeared. It includes a discussion of the "Jim dive." Her most recent scientific and environmental work has been to assess the environmental damage caused by the Prince William Sound oil spill and the results of Iraq's destruction of some 400 oil wells during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

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