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Chapter 1 - Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2014

David Pugh  and
Philip Woodworth
David Pugh
Affiliation:
National Oceanography Centre, Liverpool
Philip Woodworth
Affiliation:
National Oceanography Centre, Liverpool
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Summary

  1. Prospero: ‘. . .ye that on the sands with printless foot

  2. Do chase the ebbing Neptune and do fly him

  3. When he comes back’

  4. Shakespeare, The Tempest

Sea levels are always changing, for many reasons. Some changes are rapid while others take place very slowly. The changes can be local, or extend globally. This book is about the science of these changes.

In this first chapter we outline what constitutes sea-level science. A brief account of the development of scientific ideas is followed by an outline of how sea levels are affected by a wide range of physical forces and processes. Finally we give some basic definitions, and discuss the fundamental statistics of sea levels as time series.

Background

Living by the sea has many benefits. Statistics show that about half the global population lives within 100 km of the sea. Most of the world’s largest cities are on or near the ocean. Ninety per cent of all global trade is carried by sea. The coast offers possibilities of both trade and travel, and increasingly of water-based recreation. Natural geological processes have often conspired to create flat and fertile land near to the present sea level, to which people are drawn or driven to settle.

Type
Chapter
Information
Sea-Level Science
Understanding Tides, Surges, Tsunamis and Mean Sea-Level Changes
 , pp. 1 - 16
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

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References

(1) Darwin, G. H. 1911. The Tides and Kindred Phenomena in the Solar System (3rd edition). London: John Murray. (2) Marmer, H. A. 1926. The Tide. New York: D. Appleton and Company. (3) Dronkers, J. J. 1964. Tidal Computations in Rivers and Coastal Waters. Amsterdam: North Holland Publishing Company. (4) Lisitzin, E. 1974. Sea Level Changes. Amsterdam: Elsevier. (5) Forrester, W. D. 1983. Canadian Tidal Manual. Ottawa: Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.Google Scholar
Doodson, A. T. and Warburg, H. D. 1941. Admiralty Manual of Tides. London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Wood, F. J. 2001. Tidal Dynamics. Volume 1: Theory and Analysis of Tidal Forces. Palm Beach, FL: The Coastal Education and Research Foundation (CERF).Google Scholar
Pugh, D. T. 2004. Changing Sea Levels. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Parker, B. B. 2007. Tidal Analysis and Prediction. NOAA Special Publication NOS CO-OPS 3. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service.Google Scholar
Church, J. A., Woodworth, P. L., Aarup, T. and Wilson, W. S. 2010. Understanding Sea-Level Rise and Variability. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Defant, A. 1961. Physical Oceanography: Volume II. Oxford: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
(1) Defant, A. 1958. Ebb and Flow. Ontario: Ambassador Books. (2) Macmillan, D. H. 1966. Tides. London: CR Books. (3) Redfield, A. C. 1980. The Tides of the Waters of New England and New York. Woods Hole: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. (4) Hicks, S. D. 2006. Understanding Tides. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service.Google Scholar
Harris, R. A. 1897–1907. Manual of Tides: Appendices to Reports of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Cook, A. 1998. Edmond Halley: Charting the Heavens and the Seas. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Woodworth, P. L. 2002. Three Georges and one Richard Holden: the Liverpool tide table makers. Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 151, 19–52.Google Scholar
Wheeler, W. H. 1893. Tidal Rivers. London: Longmans, Green and Co.Google Scholar
Cartwright, D. E. 1999. Tides: A Scientific History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Deacon, M. 1997. Scientists and the Sea, 1650–1900. Aldershot: Ashgate. (First published 1971, London: Academic Press.)Google Scholar
Reidy, M. S. 2008. Tides of History. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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