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The Ocean of Life
The Ocean of Life: The Fate of Man and the Sea | Callum Roberts
1 post | 2 read | 3 to read
A Silent Spring for oceans, written by "the Rachel Carson of the fish world" (The New York Times) Who can forget the sense of wonder with which they discovered the creatures of the deep? In this vibrant hymn to the sea, Callum Robertsone of the worlds foremost conservation biologistsleads readers on a fascinating tour of mankinds relationship to the sea, from the earliest traces of water on earth to the oceans as we know them today. In the process, Roberts looks at how the taming of the oceans has shaped human civilization and affected marine life. We have always been fish eaters, from the dawn of civilization, but in the last twenty years we have transformed the oceans beyond recognition. Putting our exploitation of the seas into historical context, Roberts offers a devastating account of the impact of modern fishing techniques, pollution, and climate change, and reveals what it would take to steer the right course while there is still time. Like Four Fish and The Omnivores Dilemma, The Ocean of Life takes a long view to tell a story in which each one of us has a role to play.
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I studied oceanography at the University of Washington, so not much in this book was new to me. This book is ultimately another in a series of strong warnings about civilization‘s adverse effects on the world‘s oceans including those due to climate change, overfishing, resource extraction, etc. It also warns about the unintended effects of “solutions” such as fish farming, wind farms, and ocean fertilization. Not an uplifting read, to be sure.