Adapting to Polluted Seas

Adapting to Polluted Seas: The Co-evolutionary History of Toxicants and Marine Life presents a holistic approach to understanding the effects pollution has on our seas and how life has evolved around this ever-increasing threat and challenge. Through the book’s six chapters, the author explores the following: How is pollution changing whole ecosystems? What makes some marine species more resilient to pollution? How is contamination of the global ocean affecting the evolution of detoxification pathways and others such as DNA repair and sex hormone regulation, for instance? How is this affect paradigmatic methods for risk assessment? As the oceans’ vastness is not diluting our pollutants but rather trapping them as the ultimate sink of nearly every by-product of human civilization, marine environments are changing to precarious new equilibria with deleterious consequences to humans who directly or indirectly always depended on them. Adapting to Polluted Seas is directed to a broad range of environmental scientists, and describes how pollution is shaping marine ecosystems, forcing organisms either to disappear or to adapt and evolve, often establishing a new state of ecological equilibrium that holds little resemblance to its predecessor. It can be used in teaching and training of young students and researchers, as well as in non-guided formation of non-academic technician and specialists (e.g. toxicologists, analysts and decision-makers). The compilation of critically-analysed case studies makes this book an especially important asset that can assist decision-making and the design of monitoring programs. Features global case studies, explaining how conclusions could and can be drawn from examples Presents a historical perspective of marine pollution, providing a holistic picture and framework of the true extent of these pollutions on marine ecosystems Provides an evolutionary perspective to the study of marine pollution, allowing for a better understanding of how some ecosystems and organisms are adapting to pollutants and changes in environments