Lit Hub's Most Anticipated of 2021 A beautiful and engaging guide to global warming’s impacts around the world “The direction in which our planet is headed isn't a good one, and most of us don’t know how to change it. The bad news is that we will experience great loss. The good news is that we already have what we need to build a better future.” —from the introduction Our planet is in peril. Seas are rising, oceans are acidifying, ice is melting, coasts are flooding, species are dying, and communities are faltering. Despite these dire circumstances, most of us don’t have a clear sense of how the interconnected crises in our ocean are affecting the climate system, food webs, coastal cities, and biodiversity, and which solutions can help us co-create a better future. Through a rich combination of place-based storytelling, clear explanations of climate science and policy, and beautifully rendered maps that use a unique ink-on-dried-seaweed technique, The Atlas of Disappearing Places depicts twenty locations across the globe, from Shanghai and Antarctica to Houston and the Cook Islands. The authors describe four climate change impacts—changing chemistry, warming waters, strengthening storms, and rising seas—using the metaphor of the ocean as a body to draw parallels between natural systems and human systems. Each chapter paints a portrait of an existential threat in a particular place, detailing what will be lost if we do not take bold action now. Weaving together contemporary stories and speculative “future histories” for each place, this work considers both the serious consequences if we continue to pursue business as usual, and what we can do—from government policies to grassroots activism—to write a different, more hopeful story. A beautiful work of art and an indispensable resource to learn more about the devastating consequences of the climate crisis—as well as possibilities for individual and collective action—The Atlas of Disappearing Places will engage and inspire readers on the most pressing issue of our time. Locations include: Houston, Texas Shanghai, China Hamburg, Germany San Juan, Puerto Rico New York City, New York Pisco, Peru Kisite, Kenya Kure Atoll, Hawaii Camden, Maine The Cook Islands San Francisco, California Norfolk, Virginia Bến Tre, Vietnam Ise, Japan Gravesend, United Kingdom

"The first book of its kind, The Atlas of Coasts and Oceans documents the fraught relationship between humans and the earth's largest bodies of water--and outlines the conservation steps needed to protect the marine environment for generations to come. The Atlas offers a fascinating and often sobering account of how urbanization, climate change, offshore oil drilling, shipping routes, global tourism, and maritime conflict have had a profound impact on the world's oceans and coasts. Combining text and images in visually engaging, thematically organized map spreads, this volume addresses the ecological, environmental, and economic importance of marine phenomena such as coral reefs, eroding shorelines, hurricanes, and fish populations--and how development threatens to destroy the ultimate source of all life on the 'blue planet.'"--Publisher.

An epic, gloriously illustrated journey up and down California's shoreline California's coastline is world famous, an endless source of fascination and fantasy, but there is no book about it like this one. Obi Kaufmann, author-illustrator of The California Field Atlas and The Forests of California, now turns his attention to the 1,200 miles of the Golden State where the land meets the ocean. Bursting with color, The Coasts of California is in Kaufmann's signature style, fusing science with art and pure poetic reverie. And much more than a survey of tourist spots, Coasts is a full immersion into the astonishingly varied natural worlds that hug California's shoreline. With hundreds of gorgeous watercolor maps and illustrations, Kaufmann explores the rhythms of the tides, the lives of sea creatures, the shifting of rocks and sand, and the special habitats found on California's islands. At the book's core is an expansive, detailed walk down the California Coastal Trail, including maps of parks along the way--a wealth of knowledge for any coast-lover. The Coasts of California is a geographic epic, an odyssey in nature, a grand and glorious book for a grand and glorious part of the world.

The Global Atlas of Marine Fisheries is the first and only book to provide accurate, country-by-country fishery catch data. This groundbreaking information has been gathered from independent sources by the world's foremost fisheries experts. Edited by Daniel Pauly and Dirk Zeller of the Sea Around Us Project, the Atlas includes one-page reports on 273 countries and their territories, plus fourteen topical global chapters. Each national report describes the current state of the country's fishery; the policies, politics, and social factors affecting it; and potential solutions. The global chapters address cross-cutting issues, from the economics of fisheries to the impacts of mariculture. Extensive maps and graphics offer attractive and accessible visual representations.

Annotated Atlas of Coastal and Marine Winds provides a quick-reference on major, prevailing near-surface wind systems, along with concise explanations of the features that cause these winds and a quick qualitative assessment. As accessibility to the most recent and complete atmospheric datasets is often limited, either because they are subscription-based or because they are available only in netCDF format, this book alleviates roadblocks by providing the major, prevailing near-surface wind systems, concise explanations, the features that cause these winds, and a qualitative assessment on the amount of moisture that such winds typically carry to coastal and marine scientists and engineers. This book will be an ideal resource on coastal and marine winds for a variety of professionals, including coastal scientists, marine scientists, and engineers who study phenomena that are affected directly by weather and climate. - Presents a simple summary of the atmospheric process in text blocks, alongside each map - Provides a quick reference on prevailing global and regional wind patterns and moisture transport for understanding pollution patterns, prevailing storm tracks, climatology deviations, meteorology, and atmosphere-ocean relationships - Includes easy-to-access summary information about prevailing wind directions, sea level pressure, and water vapor flux, all in one place

Beautifully illustrated, packed with maps and diagrams, and containing up-to-date data on the status of endangered marine species, Atlas of Oceans is a celebration of Earth's vibrant and awe-inspiring oceans and seas and an urgent call to action to protect one of our planet's most vital resources. A tragedy is playing out beneath the surface of the world's bodies of marine waters, one that began long before the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Although many books have explored the environmental problems being faced on land, Atlas of Oceans is the first one for a general audience that examines how creatures of the marine environment are, if anything, more vulnerable than their land-based counterparts. Fully illustrated with stunning photography of the most interesting aquatic areas, including: â??Ocean currents and climate Changing shorelines Tropical and polar waters Layers in the ocean Black and Caspian Sea Wildlife and habitat focuses And many more! You will be introduced to the dazzling diversity of creatures that inhabit the oceans and seas, and to the nature of the problems they face. Special features focus on the threats to particular animals, plants, and habitats, as well as on specific issues like over-fishing, global warming, and pollution. The book also includes success stories, recommendations for what can be done to preserve ocean ecosystems, and a complete rundown of the most endangered species of marine life. Explore Earth's oceans and discover all that there is to preserve in Atlas of Oceans.

"[A] gorgeously illustrated compendium."--Sunset This lavishly illustrated atlas takes readers off the beaten path and outside normal conceptions of California, revealing its myriad ecologies, topographies, and histories in exquisite maps and trail paintings. Based on decades of exploring the backcountry of the Golden State, artist-adventurer Obi Kaufmann blends science and art to illuminate the multifaceted array of living, connected systems like no book has done before. Kaufmann depicts layer after layer of the natural world, delighting in the grand scale and details alike. The effect is staggeringly beautiful: presented alongside California divvied into its fifty-eight counties, for example, we consider California made up of dancing tectonic plates, of watersheds, of wildflower gardens. Maps are enhanced by spirited illustrations of wildlife, keys that explain natural phenomena, and a clear-sighted but reverential text. Full of character and color, a bit larger than life, The California Field Atlas is the ultimate road trip companion and love letter to a place.