The World’s Oceans: Geography, History, and Environment

This single-volume resource explores the five major oceans of the world, addressing current issues such as sea rise and climate change and explaining the significance of the oceans from historical, geographic, and cultural perspectives.

The World’s Oceans: Geography, History, and Environment is a one-stop resource that describes in-depth the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, and Southern Oceans and identifies their importance, today and throughout history. Essays address the subject areas of oceans and seas in world culture, fishing and shipping industries through history, ocean exploration, and climate change and oceans.

The book also presents dozens of entries covering a breadth of topics on human culture, the environment, history, and current issues as they relate to the oceans and ocean life. Sample entries provide detailed information on topics such as the Bermuda Triangle, Coral Reefs, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Ice Melt, Myths and Legends, Piracy, and Whaling. Contributions to the work come from top researchers in the fields of history and maritime studies, including Paul D'Arcy, John Gillis, Tom Hoogervorst, Michael North, and Lincoln Paine. The volume highlights the numerous ways in which Earth’s oceans have influenced culture and society, from the earliest seafaring civilizations to the future of the planet.

Introduces readers to the five major oceans of the world and provides ready-reference entries relating to geography, the environment, science, history, and culture

Entries are engaging and accessible to all readers from high school to university students to general readers

Includes sidebars of fun facts throughout the text that highlight interesting oceanic subtopics