Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of acronyms
- List of main symbols
- Chapter 1 Introduction
- Chapter 2 Sea-level measuring systems
- Chapter 3 Tidal forces
- Chapter 4 Tidal analysis and prediction
- Chapter 5 Tidal dynamics
- Chapter 6 Shallow-water and coastal tides
- Chapter 7 Storm surges, meteotsunamis and other meteorological effects on sea level
- Chapter 8 Tsunamis
- Chapter 9 Spatial variations in sea level
- Chapter 10 Mean sea-level changes in time
- Chapter 11 Sea-level changes in time to do with the solid Earth
- Chapter 12 Sea-level applications
- Chapter 13 Sea level and life
- Appendix A Basic hydrostatic and hydrodynamic equations
- Appendix B Currents
- Appendix C High and low water times and heights from harmonic constituents
- Appendix D Theoretical tidal dynamics
- Appendix E Legal definitions in the coastal zone
- Glossary
- Index
Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of acronyms
- List of main symbols
- Chapter 1 Introduction
- Chapter 2 Sea-level measuring systems
- Chapter 3 Tidal forces
- Chapter 4 Tidal analysis and prediction
- Chapter 5 Tidal dynamics
- Chapter 6 Shallow-water and coastal tides
- Chapter 7 Storm surges, meteotsunamis and other meteorological effects on sea level
- Chapter 8 Tsunamis
- Chapter 9 Spatial variations in sea level
- Chapter 10 Mean sea-level changes in time
- Chapter 11 Sea-level changes in time to do with the solid Earth
- Chapter 12 Sea-level applications
- Chapter 13 Sea level and life
- Appendix A Basic hydrostatic and hydrodynamic equations
- Appendix B Currents
- Appendix C High and low water times and heights from harmonic constituents
- Appendix D Theoretical tidal dynamics
- Appendix E Legal definitions in the coastal zone
- Glossary
- Index
Summary
Preface
We spend much of our time studying sea-level science, a wide-ranging and constantly fascinating subject. We analyse data, read and write papers, and present findings at conferences where there are people in the same sea-level community as us. However, every so often we get to meet other people who have been exposed to this subject in a more personal way: someone who lost relatives in the 1953 North Sea storm surge, another who lost everything more than once in Bangladesh floods, a colleague who survived the 2004 Sumatra tsunami.
We remember at a conference of sea-level experts in the Maldives some years ago a small boy holding a homemade poster declaring ‘Down with sea-level rise’, as he feared for the future of his country. Concern about possible global warming and sea-level rise has rarely been expressed as simply or as effectively. These examples remind us that the results of our work are important, not just for the scientific papers that are produced, but also for many practical reasons, which somehow we find reassuring.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Sea-Level ScienceUnderstanding Tides, Surges, Tsunamis and Mean Sea-Level Changes, pp. vii - viiiPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014