At every depth: our growing knowledge of the changing oceans

An oceanographer and a science writer collaborate on this series of stories that focuses as much on humans as they do on the watery depths. The ocean is the "main character but it needs a voice," and the stories come from scientists, Indigenous peoples, shellfish farmers, fisheries workers, coastal community members, and others who know the oceans best. The book is organized by different oceanic environments, from shallow bays and inlets to the dark, frigid Arctic and Southern Oceans. These are stories of observed and documented rapid changes: rising temperatures, increased acidification, degradation from pollution and overfishing, and the resulting disruption in species composition and worldwide abundance. Every chapter imparts astonishing new understanding of the impacts of human activity on ocean environments, once seen as infinitely vast and inscrutable. The authors hope that conveying these stories will alert readers to the need to slow climate change, decrease use of plastic and the fossil fuels used to produce them, and recognize that human health and environmental stability are directly dependent on healthy oceans. Well written, thoroughly researched and documented, this compilation would enhance any collection serving adult readers. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. --Alison Scott Ricker, formerly, Oberlin College

In this unsettling study, Hill, an oceanographer at the University of California Davis, and science writer Simons (Darwin Slept Here) explore ocean ecosystems and how global warming and pollution are affecting them. Explaining how kelp forests, tide pools, and other aquatic environments function, the authors note that coral reefs form from the symbiotic relationship between dinoflagellate algae, which live inside of coral and feed on its "waste nutrients," and coral itself, which "builds a skeleton out of calcium carbonate," resulting in "the beautiful structure people are familiar with" that provide shelter to countless fish and other organisms. Underscoring the threat posed by climate change, Hill and Simons report that amphipods (a kind of tiny crustacean) collected from the Mariana Trench were found to be "laden with human-produced polychlorinated biphenyls, chemicals banned for decades," suggesting even the most remote places on Earth aren't safe from humans. The authors outline pollution's toll on the natural world in haunting detail ("In albatross breeding colonies across the Pacific, the large ocean-roaming birds die with stomachs full of plastic, their bodies decomposing until all that remains is a neatly arranged pile of human junk"), providing an incisive look at a world in crisis. This troubling assessment of how humans are devastating the world's oceans hits home. Illus. (Feb.)

In this unsettling study, Hill, an oceanographer at the University of California Davis, and science writer Simons (Darwin Slept Here) explore ocean ecosystems and how global warming and pollution are affecting them. Explaining how kelp forests, tide pools, and other aquatic environments function, the authors note that coral reefs form from the symbiotic relationship between dinoflagellate algae, which live inside of coral and feed on its "waste nutrients," and coral itself, which "builds a skeleton out of calcium carbonate," resulting in "the beautiful structure people are familiar with" that provide shelter to countless fish and other organisms. Underscoring the threat posed by climate change, Hill and Simons report that amphipods (a kind of tiny crustacean) collected from the Mariana Trench were found to be "laden with human-produced polychlorinated biphenyls, chemicals banned for decades," suggesting even the most remote places on Earth aren't safe from humans. The authors outline pollution's toll on the natural world in haunting detail ("In albatross breeding colonies across the Pacific, the large ocean-roaming birds die with stomachs full of plastic, their bodies decomposing until all that remains is a neatly arranged pile of human junk"), providing an incisive look at a world in crisis. This troubling assessment of how humans are devastating the world's oceans hits home. Illus. (Feb.)