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The Oceans: A Deep History
The 4.4-billion-year history of the oceans and their role in Earth's climate system.
It has often been said that we know more about the moon than we do about our own oceans. In fact, we know a great deal more about the oceans than many people realize. Scientists know that our actions today are shaping the oceans and climate of tomorrow--and that if we continue to act recklessly, the consequences will be dire. In this timely and accessible book, Eelco Rohling traces the 4.4 billion-year history of Earth's oceans while also shedding light on the critical role they play in our planet's climate system.
Beginning with the formation of primeval Earth and the earliest appearance of oceans, Rohling takes readers on a journey through prehistory to the present age, vividly describing the major events in the ocean's evolution--from snowball and greenhouse Earth to the end-Permian mass extinction, the breakup of the Pangaea supercontinent, and the changing climate of today. Along the way, he explores the close interrelationships of the oceans, climate, solid Earth processes, and life, using the context of Earth and ocean history to provide perspective on humankind's impacts on the health and habitability of our planet--and on what the future may hold for us.
An invaluable introduction to the cutting-edge science of paleoceanography, The Oceans enables you to make your own informed opinions about the environmental challenges we face as a result of humanity's unrelenting drive to exploit the world ocean and its vital resources.
It has often been said that we know more about the moon than we do about our own oceans. In fact, we know a great deal more about the oceans than many people realize. Scientists know that our actions today are shaping the oceans and climate of tomorrow--and that if we continue to act recklessly, the consequences will be dire. In this timely and accessible book, Eelco Rohling traces the 4.4 billion-year history of Earth's oceans while also shedding light on the critical role they play in our planet's climate system.
Beginning with the formation of primeval Earth and the earliest appearance of oceans, Rohling takes readers on a journey through prehistory to the present age, vividly describing the major events in the ocean's evolution--from snowball and greenhouse Earth to the end-Permian mass extinction, the breakup of the Pangaea supercontinent, and the changing climate of today. Along the way, he explores the close interrelationships of the oceans, climate, solid Earth processes, and life, using the context of Earth and ocean history to provide perspective on humankind's impacts on the health and habitability of our planet--and on what the future may hold for us.
An invaluable introduction to the cutting-edge science of paleoceanography, The Oceans enables you to make your own informed opinions about the environmental challenges we face as a result of humanity's unrelenting drive to exploit the world ocean and its vital resources.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2020
15 people are currently reading
521 people want to read
About the author
Eelco J. Rohling
4 books5 followersEelco J. Rohling is based at the Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra (since 2013), and secondarily affiliated with the University of Southampton, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, UK (since 1994). His research focuses on ocean and climate change with emphasis on sea level, climate sensitivity, and past episodes of enhanced carbon burial in ocean sediments.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 18, 2018
We're doomed.
October 7, 2019
Although I found this book a little hard to follow in the first few chapters, it turned out to be an engrossing read. Maybe a glossary of terms would have been helpful.
The author is a working scientist, and he provides a comprehensive look at the deep history of the oceans; I suspect this may be the only popular science book to do that. In addition, this was one of those rare books that profoundly expanded my perspective on Earth's history while describing specific events in that history in a way that made them unforgettable.
For example, the section in chapter 6 on massive deposits of salts (salt giants) due to evaporation, fascinating in itself, included a description of water pouring through what is now the Straits of Gibraltar, refilling the mostly dry Mediterranean basin during the Mesozoic (the water had evaporated owing to the high temperatures at the time). I knew that this had happened, but I had forgotten the details, and I don't think I'd ever known how quickly the Mediterranean basin filled up. A recent study suggests that 90% of the entire basin refilled within a few months to two years! Sea level in the Mediterranean might have risen by as much as 10 meters a day. Also, during the time that the basin was mostly dry, the Nile and some European rivers carved out canyons up to 2 kilometers deep to reach the seabed.
I also enjoyed learning about how astronomical cycles affect climate. The description of cyclical anoxic events in the Mediterranean (one of the regions that the author's group studies) was particularly interesting. The most recent of these events was only 6000 to 10,000 years ago, and the story of why they happen and why they're cyclical involves an astronomical cycle (precession of Earth's axis of rotation), the resulting changes in the African monsoon, and disruption of circulation in the sea caused by incoming freshwater from a green Sahara.
All of the background on how oceans work and how they've changed on very long timescales was particularly good to have in the last chapter, which looked at how the oceans are responding to human-induced changes to the planet. This part of the book was a very sobering read, as you might expect, although the author suggests that we still have an opportunity to avert some of the worst consequences by reducing our CO2 output and removing CO2 from the atmosphere (e.g., by massive tree planting), if we act very quickly.
However, in the last chapter I also learned a lot about the context and scale of human injection of carbon into the atmosphere (which are mind-boggling compared to natural changes) and how Earth's very slow adjustments to increases in atmospheric carbon might play out over the scale of thousands to millions of years. I feel like I have a better grasp of what's going on. As much as I appreciate news stories and articles about climate change, I think this book taught me more than I ever could have learned by that route.
The author is a working scientist, and he provides a comprehensive look at the deep history of the oceans; I suspect this may be the only popular science book to do that. In addition, this was one of those rare books that profoundly expanded my perspective on Earth's history while describing specific events in that history in a way that made them unforgettable.
For example, the section in chapter 6 on massive deposits of salts (salt giants) due to evaporation, fascinating in itself, included a description of water pouring through what is now the Straits of Gibraltar, refilling the mostly dry Mediterranean basin during the Mesozoic (the water had evaporated owing to the high temperatures at the time). I knew that this had happened, but I had forgotten the details, and I don't think I'd ever known how quickly the Mediterranean basin filled up. A recent study suggests that 90% of the entire basin refilled within a few months to two years! Sea level in the Mediterranean might have risen by as much as 10 meters a day. Also, during the time that the basin was mostly dry, the Nile and some European rivers carved out canyons up to 2 kilometers deep to reach the seabed.
I also enjoyed learning about how astronomical cycles affect climate. The description of cyclical anoxic events in the Mediterranean (one of the regions that the author's group studies) was particularly interesting. The most recent of these events was only 6000 to 10,000 years ago, and the story of why they happen and why they're cyclical involves an astronomical cycle (precession of Earth's axis of rotation), the resulting changes in the African monsoon, and disruption of circulation in the sea caused by incoming freshwater from a green Sahara.
All of the background on how oceans work and how they've changed on very long timescales was particularly good to have in the last chapter, which looked at how the oceans are responding to human-induced changes to the planet. This part of the book was a very sobering read, as you might expect, although the author suggests that we still have an opportunity to avert some of the worst consequences by reducing our CO2 output and removing CO2 from the atmosphere (e.g., by massive tree planting), if we act very quickly.
However, in the last chapter I also learned a lot about the context and scale of human injection of carbon into the atmosphere (which are mind-boggling compared to natural changes) and how Earth's very slow adjustments to increases in atmospheric carbon might play out over the scale of thousands to millions of years. I feel like I have a better grasp of what's going on. As much as I appreciate news stories and articles about climate change, I think this book taught me more than I ever could have learned by that route.
December 19, 2019
A bit dry at times but huegly fadcinating at others. Well worth a read and a think about the consequences of what it tells you. Also first few chapters gave a truly humbling look at the creation of earth and earths waters and salty waters and oxygen and eventually life.
September 28, 2021
A nice book on the importance of our oceans. However, chapters are sometimes difficult to understand for non-technical readers. It definitely needs more than one read to fully understand some concepts.
February 20, 2020
The Oceans: A Deep History by Dutch geologist/ocean and climate change scientist, Eelco J. Rohling, opens the world of the oceans' history, numerous processes with their complex interactions and feedback to one another and their critical role in shaping and responding to Earth's climate.
Although written for a popular audience, The Oceans requires some background in geology to fully appreciate because the introduction of many technical terms, acronyms and concepts is fairly cursory before their detailed and in-depth discussion. As others have stated, it would have benefited from the addition of a glossary. That said, someone without geologic training could still enjoy and learn a great deal from this book. Without familiarity with common geologic terms, the geological time scale with its eras within the Paleozoic and Mesozoic periods and Tertiary epochs and many earth processes, the average reader may not get as much out of all that is written.
Rohling takes the reader on a journey through the 4.4 billion year history of the oceans of the 4.5 billion year history of Earth. In the true spirit and nature of a geologist, he uses examples from the geologic record of events and conditions that we face now to project possible future conditions and consequences. Along the way it's clear what a vital role the oceans play in our climate and the evolution, ebbs and flows of life. Like the scope of systems that the oceans involve and affect, Rohling's unveiling of the oceans is comprehensive but only gives a glimpse of what can be studied further.
This book makes it clear that anthropogenic climate change and human-caused species extinctions are profoundly changing the planet and may be unprecedented. There is compelling evidence that our destruction even eclipses the Permian mass extinction episode, the biggest, that wiped out 90% of all life, in both speed and scope. The time for revolutionary action on a global scale is immediate and imperative to mitigate the worst consequences that are already set in motion. We might still be able to avoid the worst catastrophe but it requires immediate cessation of greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation along with the development of technology to remove massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere that is only experimental now but must be be scaled up to globally to defuse the uninhabitable climate bomb we have created.
Most of the natural processes that have created and reset imbalances throughout Earth's history operate on the order of tens of thousands to tens millions of years. Life is resilient and will persist. If we don't dramatically change our current climate trajectory, life as it is now will rapidly vanish to appear again in very different forms without us or much that we would recognize. It's happened five times before and is happening now only much more rapidly. Other than that, the future looks bright.
Although written for a popular audience, The Oceans requires some background in geology to fully appreciate because the introduction of many technical terms, acronyms and concepts is fairly cursory before their detailed and in-depth discussion. As others have stated, it would have benefited from the addition of a glossary. That said, someone without geologic training could still enjoy and learn a great deal from this book. Without familiarity with common geologic terms, the geological time scale with its eras within the Paleozoic and Mesozoic periods and Tertiary epochs and many earth processes, the average reader may not get as much out of all that is written.
Rohling takes the reader on a journey through the 4.4 billion year history of the oceans of the 4.5 billion year history of Earth. In the true spirit and nature of a geologist, he uses examples from the geologic record of events and conditions that we face now to project possible future conditions and consequences. Along the way it's clear what a vital role the oceans play in our climate and the evolution, ebbs and flows of life. Like the scope of systems that the oceans involve and affect, Rohling's unveiling of the oceans is comprehensive but only gives a glimpse of what can be studied further.
This book makes it clear that anthropogenic climate change and human-caused species extinctions are profoundly changing the planet and may be unprecedented. There is compelling evidence that our destruction even eclipses the Permian mass extinction episode, the biggest, that wiped out 90% of all life, in both speed and scope. The time for revolutionary action on a global scale is immediate and imperative to mitigate the worst consequences that are already set in motion. We might still be able to avoid the worst catastrophe but it requires immediate cessation of greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation along with the development of technology to remove massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere that is only experimental now but must be be scaled up to globally to defuse the uninhabitable climate bomb we have created.
Most of the natural processes that have created and reset imbalances throughout Earth's history operate on the order of tens of thousands to tens millions of years. Life is resilient and will persist. If we don't dramatically change our current climate trajectory, life as it is now will rapidly vanish to appear again in very different forms without us or much that we would recognize. It's happened five times before and is happening now only much more rapidly. Other than that, the future looks bright.
December 10, 2017
It has often been said that we know more about the moon than we do about our oceans…Scientists know that our actions today are shaping the oceans and climate of tomorrow – and that if we continue to act recklessly, the consequences will be dire.
It is perhaps our belief that we know so little about the oceans and their importance to the planet and everything on it and how our actions affect them that allows us to continue our destructive ways. In his book The Oceans: a Deep History, Eelco J Rohling, professor of ocean and climate change, explains the 4.4-billion- year history of the oceans and how they affected climate in the past and how they continue to affect it in an effort to dispel our ignorance of one of earth’s most important resources. I found much of the book fascinating: underwater volcanoes; chemical changes over time eg. the effects of oxygen, once destructive to life, now so important to it; how natural phenomena including the movements of the continents affect them; more importantly, how our actions are affecting them; and how all of this has affected and continues to affect the climate.
As someone with little science background, I would be lying if I said I understood everything. Often I found myself bogged down by technical language and struggled frequently despite Rohling’s explanations but that is my problem, not that of the book. What was clear, however, was the importance of the role of the oceans to the planet and everything on it including us, the damage we are doing to them, and what our future may look like if we don’t stop.
Thanks to Netgalley and Princeton University press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review
It is perhaps our belief that we know so little about the oceans and their importance to the planet and everything on it and how our actions affect them that allows us to continue our destructive ways. In his book The Oceans: a Deep History, Eelco J Rohling, professor of ocean and climate change, explains the 4.4-billion- year history of the oceans and how they affected climate in the past and how they continue to affect it in an effort to dispel our ignorance of one of earth’s most important resources. I found much of the book fascinating: underwater volcanoes; chemical changes over time eg. the effects of oxygen, once destructive to life, now so important to it; how natural phenomena including the movements of the continents affect them; more importantly, how our actions are affecting them; and how all of this has affected and continues to affect the climate.
As someone with little science background, I would be lying if I said I understood everything. Often I found myself bogged down by technical language and struggled frequently despite Rohling’s explanations but that is my problem, not that of the book. What was clear, however, was the importance of the role of the oceans to the planet and everything on it including us, the damage we are doing to them, and what our future may look like if we don’t stop.
Thanks to Netgalley and Princeton University press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review
February 22, 2020
I'm going with four stars instead of three because the author does fall into a "professor" voice that can create confusion at times. My advice to science or other nonfiction writers is to always define important terms before describing specific examples and please, never delay an important explanation with the worn rhetorical device of "don't worry, I'll explain that later." I know we professors do these things all the time in lecture classes, but when writing, one can't "read the room" and it is frustrating for readers. For example, the author brushed by a certain phenomenon by stating it was an "area of subduction" and didn't define "subduction" or even really describe it until several pages later. If I hadn't happened to have a scientist sitting in the room with me while I was reading to define the term on the spot, I would have probably given up on that section. Overall, though, thorough and interesting discussion that covers some basic material and then moves on to more surprising ideas.
October 13, 2024
An exceptional book about ocean systems and its associations with the rest of the earth, but is quite dense. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed it, the book would be a difficult read for someone without a basic background in environmental science. However, having said that the author covers a wide range of topics pertaining to stability and changes in the ocean and climate system and how we can quantify them using sedimentary and other archives. Quite a lot of information packed into a book.
March 3, 2018
My two-star rating might say more about me than about this book. It was decent enough while reading it, but I had trouble retaining anything. I can't point to any particular flaw in the book that would explain what that was. So maybe it's just me. OK, but if I didn't get much out of it, I'm not going to give it a high rating.
July 25, 2020
An informed look at the complex links between our oceans and our planetary climate. See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2018...
May 6, 2021
A scientifically dense book about the oceans' vast history and a sobering look at the rising global impact of human activities on the oceans and its mechanisms.
November 23, 2025
Dense but worth the effort
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February 9, 2019I'm not giving this one a rating because I didn't finish it, but that doesn't mean it was bad. I like this genre, but I wasn't so much into the peleoecology element of this one, I skipped to the chapters related to modern issues of climate change, pollution, etc (which had important messages). In the intro, the author said that this book was his science written for the masses, but I thought it was still a bit to technical in places and the narrative wasn't always interesting to me.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews