This book was written partly in response to the 1988 meeting in Sydney, Australia, of the International Geographical Union during which delegates were encouraged to make contributions to the analysis of global changes. Two comprehensive projects emerged from that meeting. First, the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) or Global Change Programme promoted by the International Council of Scientific Unions begun in 1986; and second, the Human Dimensions of Global Change Programme (HDGCP) promoted by the International Social Science Council in 1988.
In Sydney, the General Assembly of the International Geographical Union established a Commission on Marine Geography, with a brief to develop a 1988-1992 programme Christopher Columbus 2000. It would embody: geostrategy and geopolitics of the ocean and maritime transportation; biological resources of the sea; international division of labour and geoeconomy of the sea; comparative analysis of local and regional planning and development concepts for marine zones of coastal states; the management of semi-enclosed seas; and a directory of data bases relevant to marine geography.
Vallega's contribution to this programme investigates various aspects of global change including the altering man-ocean relationships through time--both physical and legal frameworks; structures induced by relationships between human behaviour and the marine environment and ecosystems and related management patterns pertaining to the oceans; and space-time scales in respect of marine influences on human behaviour. The book is organized into five sections: physical frameworks and society; jurisdictional belts and sea management; change, time and space; the changing ocean; and promoting research.