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A review by jaclynday
The Attacking Ocean: The Past, Present, and Future of Rising Sea Levels by Brian Fagan
4.0
I started reading this shortly after watching Blackfish and man. Depressing. (But fascinating.) The Attacking Ocean is a sometimes dense, but still riveting nonfiction book about how rising sea levels have affected and are continuing to affect land mass and civilization. Fagan also talks about how these higher sea levels are responsible for the increasing severity of cyclones/hurricanes and tsunamis.
It’s a sobering, eye-opening book. I knew—in generalities—that global warming was affecting the ocean and severe weather, but this book really drills down on the issues. Its objective, academic tone makes the really scary bits even scarier. The statistics listing thousands upon thousands of people killed by severe storms, the probability that Bangladesh could basically disappear into the ocean within a few generations, the emergency evacuation plans for refugees that some South Pacific islands have in place since they know their island could virtually disappear within the century, the impact of coastal erosion on traditional fishing villages in Alaska…It goes on and on. And it’s pretty terrifying.
Still, the book is far from sensational. It’s packed full of hard-won research, statistics and data, and Fagan makes it clear he’s not hypothesizing about much except the WHEN. The If is not in question any longer, basically. (Put this in the context of Hurricane Sandy, which he talks at length about, and it hits really close to home—no pun intended.) It seems like Fagan has no real agenda or call to action, except to discuss historical events and enlighten people about how current events are being impacted by increasing global warming. Fagan’s lack of solutions might be the scariest thing about this book. Is there any turning back? Is there a solution (globally or locally) that could actually reverse some of this? Fagan seems to think we’re pretty far gone.
The Attacking Ocean is well-worth the read, but be forewarned! When I say it’s academic, it’s very academic. If you can’t stand footnotes, this is not your book. (Let me direct you to the new Bridget Jones novel. I’m kidding.)
It’s a sobering, eye-opening book. I knew—in generalities—that global warming was affecting the ocean and severe weather, but this book really drills down on the issues. Its objective, academic tone makes the really scary bits even scarier. The statistics listing thousands upon thousands of people killed by severe storms, the probability that Bangladesh could basically disappear into the ocean within a few generations, the emergency evacuation plans for refugees that some South Pacific islands have in place since they know their island could virtually disappear within the century, the impact of coastal erosion on traditional fishing villages in Alaska…It goes on and on. And it’s pretty terrifying.
Still, the book is far from sensational. It’s packed full of hard-won research, statistics and data, and Fagan makes it clear he’s not hypothesizing about much except the WHEN. The If is not in question any longer, basically. (Put this in the context of Hurricane Sandy, which he talks at length about, and it hits really close to home—no pun intended.) It seems like Fagan has no real agenda or call to action, except to discuss historical events and enlighten people about how current events are being impacted by increasing global warming. Fagan’s lack of solutions might be the scariest thing about this book. Is there any turning back? Is there a solution (globally or locally) that could actually reverse some of this? Fagan seems to think we’re pretty far gone.
The Attacking Ocean is well-worth the read, but be forewarned! When I say it’s academic, it’s very academic. If you can’t stand footnotes, this is not your book. (Let me direct you to the new Bridget Jones novel. I’m kidding.)