A reef in time : the Great Barrier Reef from beginning to end /

This impressive volume covers a large topic and does so very well. Though it is ostensibly centered on the Great Barrier Reef, the book treats the general nature of and environmental controls on coral reefs, and their history over geologic time since the Silurian Period. Veron (formerly, chief scientist, Australian Institute of Marine Science) addresses this long history to show the importance of gaps in the geologic record of reef building following five mass extinctions such as that at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. The culmination of this history is the powerful statement made in the final chapters that humankind may now be entering a sixth such extinction, this one associated with anthropic changes to the planet's atmosphere and oceans. This argument is strengthened by setting it in the context of geologic time and by the authority of the author, who spent his career researching the Great Barrier Reef and other reefs across the globe. The book is highly readable and well produced with numerous line diagrams, more than 50 color plates, a good index, and extensive footnotes, which point the way to sources and supporting material. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers; lower-division undergraduates through graduate students. N. Caine University of Colorado at Boulder

Veron (Corals of the World) once thought Australia's Great Barrier Reef would endure forever, but after witnessing the devastation inflicted on corals by elevated sea temperatures, he now knows this is false. In his impassioned book, the former chief scientist with the Australian Institute of Marine Science highlights reefs as indicators of climate change's effects on marine and other ecosystems. Time from a reef's perspective, rather than a human perspective, is one of the book's central themes. Past mass extinctions have occurred within the lengthy frames of geological time that allowed reefs to renew themselves. Today, as reefs succumb to mass bleaching (caused by high light and elevated temperatures) and ocean acidification, they are undergoing an extinction event in the significantly shorter frame of human planetary influence. Coral health affects all marine life. According to Veron's detailed analysis, corals will be incapable of relying on genetic adaptation to recover because the time frame for such evolutionary changes is too short. Complex scientific material serves Veron's straightforward message: climate change will soon reach the point of no return-possibly within a decade-and cause disaster for not only corals but many, if not all, marine food webs. Color illus. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Stretching 1200 miles along the east coast of Australia, the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is renowned for the beauty of its diverse and colorful marine life. Formed by corals, this unique marine ecosystem is protected by the Australian government's Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. In spite of its marine-protected status, as discussed by David Lawrence and others in The Great Barrier Reef, the GBR is threatened by world climate change, increased carbon dioxide emissions, and ocean acidification. Veron (Corals of the World), a former chief scientist with the Australian Institute of Marine Science and an award-winning authority on the biological, geological, and ecological aspects of coral reefs, predicts its gradual destruction in the next few decades and makes an impassioned plea for individuals and governments to take action to reduce energy consumption. Touching on the concepts of biology, geology, oceanography, paleontology, reef geology, and ocean chemistry, he precedes each chapter with an abstract and includes charts, diagrams, and color plates. An extensive bibliography and glossary are included. Suitable for academic and large public libraries.-Judith B. Barnett, Pell Marine Science Lib., Univ. of Rhode Island, Kingston (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.