Oceans: A Visual Guide (Visual Guides)
Earth's oceans may appear monolithic, but like the lands they surround, oceans are wonderfully varied, as revealed by oceanographers Hutchinson and Hawkins in this picture-rich all-ocean tour. Beginning with the birth of the oceans, the "cradle of life," the authors explain tides, salinity, currents, waves, and the diverse and complex ecosystems of the polar, equatorial, and temperate oceans with diagrams, photographs, and concise and clear commentary. Seascapes make for beautiful images, but it is the pictures of marine wildlife that are the most dramatic, ranging from microscopic species to the sea's giants, the exquisite to the spooky, all the results of natural engineering and adaptation at their most inventive and miraculous. Hutchinson and Hawkins also tell the story of human exploration and exploitation of the seas, a line of inquiry that leads inexorably to discussions of pollution, overfishing, habitat destruction, and global warming. There are solutions to ocean abuse, and one hopes that this alluring and educating book will inspire readers to help protect the oceans and, thus, life itself.Donna SeamanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved