Global Change and Integrated Coastal Management focuses on the potential impacts of global change on coastal environments in the Asia-Pacific region. The region is significant because phenomena such as the Asian Monsoon and the El Ni#o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomena, affect the world climate; it has diverse marine and terrestrial ecosystems, including the world largest areas of coral reefs and mangroves; it has almost two-thirds of the world's total human population; and its economic growth rate is the highest of any region in the world.
Global Change and Integrated Coastal Management identifies important global change issues which will be relevant for the future management of coastal environments in the Asia-Pacific region. The most important of these is global warming and accelerated sea-level rise. The potential impacts from this are compounded by current issues such as unsustainable use of coastal resources; coastal impacts from poor catchment management; population increase and urbanisation pressure; coastal resource and development pressure on rural coasts. The book addresses methods for tackling these issues such as `integrated coastal management' and the need to recognize the diversity of coastal management practices in the Asia-Pacific region.
Global Change and Integrated Coastal Management is written by international coastal experts from the region who have identified key directions for future global change research that will be of relevance for coastal management in the Asia-Pacific region.
Part 1: The Asia-Pacific Coastal Zone
- Importance of Global Change for Coastal Management in the Asia-Pacific Region
- State of the Environment in the Asia and Pacific Coastal Zones and Effects of Global Change
Part 2: New Directions in Research
- Approaches to Coastal Management in the Asia-Pacific Region
- Catchment-Coast Interaction in the Asia-Pacific Region
- The History of Coasts in the Asia-Pacific Region
- Responses of Humans to Coastal Change in the Asia-Pacific Region
- Hotspots of Urbanization and Population Growth in the Asia-Pacific Region
- Pressures on Rural Coasts in the Asia-Pacific Region
- Impacts of Pollutants the Asia-Pacific Region
- Landscape Variability and the Response of Asian Megadeltas to Environmental Change
- Maintaining Natural Coastal Ecosystems
- Conclusions/Synthesis/Future Direction of Global Change Coastal Research
"There is a clear message that emphasizes the need for understanding of coastal process relationships in an integrated manner, such as physical catchment and coast interactions, and social interactions relating to economics, tourism and cultural values, while also emphasizing the need for participation in coastal management through different levels of the community (local through to national). [...] Another strength of Global Change and Integrated Coastal Management is the geographical nature of the content. This book brings together socio-economic, cultural and physical environmental change. This is an advantage over other coastal texts currently available, and globalizes its value to all coastal scientists."
– Martin Shingle, New Zealand Geographer, Vol. 68 (2), 2008