Book Review
Coastal Environments. An Introduction to the Physical, Ecological and Cultural Systems of Coastlines. By R. W. G. Carter. Academic Press, 1988. ISBN 0-12-16185512. Price: £46.50 (hardback), £19.50 (paperback).
While lengthy stretches of the world's coasts are still inaccessible and/or inhospitable, the remainder is under considerable demographic pressure. In numerous maritime nations, and especially island nations, such pressure is particularly acute. In Australia, for instance, roughly 83% of its population is essentially coast-based. In the Province of Cantabria in northern Spain, some 75% of its population of four million resides within a 15 km wide strip along the coastline. It is surprising, therefore, that until the 1980s relatively few publications in book form (with the exception of such benchmarks as those of D. W. Johnson, A. Guilcher, C. A. M. King and V. P. Zenkovitch) concerned coastal zones. What was needed was a reasonably comprehensive text embracing both the physical processes operating within the coastal zone and important management and planning issues. 'Coastal Environments' does just that, and arrived at an opportune time when critical coastal zone issues were surfacing--such as the future of coastal wetlands, dune systems, coral reefs, and the implications of global sea level rise. The book embodies an impressive amount of the author's own research, but also draws on a wide range of other coastal zone literature that will enable the reader to penetrate even further into coastal literature.
Certain issues are weakly developed; for example, the statement that 'most coastal bathing hazards can be identified in advance by trained lifeguards who can choose and direct people to safe bathing zones' is by no means the complete answer to this kind of marine recreational management. Notwithstanding this, the book on the whole is excellent, and a very welcome addition to coastal zone literature. The reviewer strongly recommends it to students, scientists, administrators and others concerned with coastal zone studies.