Sea Change: Britain's Coastal Catastrophe - Tapa dura

"The most brilliant and devastating attack yet written on bungling, political weakness, incompetence and sheer slowness of those who are meant to be in charge of the seas around our shores." --Adam Nicolson, Evening Standard "For centuries our sea, less our lands, was what characterized us as a people. Now we fly over it, seek it less for work and play, and fail to recognize that it is in crisis. Richard Girling's wonderfully informed, hard hitting, and inspired account of what is happening on our shoreline shatters this ignorance." --Ronald Blythe, author, Akenfield "Richard Girling calls the sea our civilization's 'amniotic fluid.' His story of its violation by oil pollution, over-fishing, climate-change-driven erosion and our belief that we have the wisdom to 'manage' the marine environment is shocking." --Richard Mabey, author, The Flowering of Britain "Anyone who cares about the coast should read this book--before it is too late." --Nicholas Crane, author, Mercator "Readers will relish these tales of failing fisheries." --Publishers Weekly

We have a special relationship with the sea. It is the single most powerful driver of our economy, our lifestyle and our politics. It affects what we eat, how we use the land, how we relate to our neighbours, how we travel, even the thickness of our coats. Yet we go on treating it, with childlike faith and unreason, as if we imagine it to be infinitely resourceful and endlessly forgiving. Sea Change addresses such issues as pollution by sewage, nuclear waste and dumping at sea; extinction of fish stocks; destruction of marine environment, impacts of climate change, coastal erosion and rising sea levels; decline of our seaside resorts; the failure of the 'integrated transport policy';and smuggling. In each case Girling questions: how did the situation arise? What are the consequences? What should be done? And what will happen when we fail? His unique voice blends horror, humour and 'just fancy that'; sifting for solutions in the sands, he is utterly compelling, entertaining and inspirational.