Urbanization has already reached unprecedented levels in the estuarine and coastal zone of the Asia Pacific region where mega-cities and mega-harbours have developed and are still growing. Environmental degradation is significant and growing. The social, economic and environmental problems are pressing and call for science-based solutions. This book details how science can provide solutions so that economic and social developments can be ecologically sustainable. Twelve sites are discussed in detail, integrating physics and biology, and between science and engineering. In turn these are linked to economic and social issues. These sites are Tokyo Bay, the Pearl Estuary, Hong Kong, Shanghai and the Yangtze delta, Klang, Manila Bay, Jakarta Bay, Pearl Harbor, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok and the upper Gulf of Thailand, Singapore, and Darwin. This is the shoreline of about 50 million people and the coastal waters of about 500 million people. Sixty prominent scientists and engineers in universities and research centres in all these cities contributed the chapters in this book.

These lessons are fundamentally important for the Asia Pacific region, and they will also substantially inform similar analyses of mega-cities, port and harbour management and practices worldwide.

Autorentext
Dr. Eric Wolanski, an internationally recognized coastal oceanographer, is a fellow of the Belgian Academy of Overseas Sciences, the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, and the Institution of Engineers Australia. He was awarded an Australian Centenary medal for services in estuarine and coastal oceanography and he is a Leading Scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science with more than 270 publications.

Zusammenfassung
In the USA, Asia and Europe, as well as worldwide, trade is growing rapidly and much of it depends on shipping. This is leading to the development of mega-cities and mega-harbours. The marine environment is degrading. Is increasing trade ecologically sustainable? This book addresses this question through harbours in the Asia Pacific region, including Tokyo Bay, the Pearl Estuary, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh City, Manila Bay, Jakarta Bay, Bangkok, Singapore, Klang, Pearl Harbour, and Darwin. Much of the world trade goes through these harbours. This book demonstrates, through the writing of eminent scientists in each of these countries, the oceanography and ecosystem science necessary to understand how these urbanised marine ecosystems function. It offers science-based solutions to achieve ecologically sustainable development. These lessons are important not only for the Asia Pacific Region, including Australia, but also worldwide. The book is a wake-up call that all the countries in the Asia Pacific are facing the same, serious socio-economic and environmental problems with varying scales. Each of these countries addresses these issues differently. This book shows that we have much to learn from each other to ensure that development does not need to be at the cost of the environment. I commend this book for its comprehensive coverage of the links between oceanography, ecosystem processes, and socio-economic issues.

Inhalt
Increasing Trade and Urbanisation of the Asia Pacific Coast.- Tokyo Bay: Its Environmental Status Past, Present, and Future.- Ecological Network Linked by the Planktonic Larvae of the Clam Ruditapes Philippinarum in Tokyo Bay.- Circulation Processes in Tokyo Bay.- Effects of Oceanic Water Intrusion on the Tokyo Bay Environment.- Influence of the Deep Waterway Project on the Changjiang Estuary.- Impact of Human Activities on the Health of Ecosystems in the Changjiang Delta Region.- Geographical and Economical Setting of the Pearl River Estuary.- Physical Processes and Sediment Dynamics in the Pearl River.- Water Quality and Phytoplankton Blooms in the Pearl River Estuary.- Pollution Studies on Mangroves in Hong Kong and Mainland China.- Field and Model Studies of Water Quality in Hong Kong.- Eutrophication Dynamics in Hong Kong Coastal Waters: Physical and Biological Interactions.- Marine Communities and Introduced Species in Pearl Harbor, O'ahu, Hawai'i.- Physical Environment in the Gulf of Thailand with Emphasis on Three Important Ports.- Environmental Issues in the Gulf of Thailand.- The Environment in Ho Chi Minh City Harbours.- Biophysical Environment of Manila Bay Then and Now.- Manila Bay: Environmental Challenges and Opportunities.- Carbon Flux Through Bacteria in a Eutrophic Tropical Environment: Port Klang Waters.- Phytoplankton Structure in the Tropical Port Waters of Singapore.- Marine Habitats in One of the World's Busiest Harbours.- The Physical Oceanography of Singapore Coastal Waters and Its Implications for Oil Spills.- Managing the Port of Jakarta Bay: Overcoming the Legacy of 400 Years of Adhoc Development.- Darwin Harbour: Water Quality and Ecosystem Structure on a Tropical Harbour in the Early Stages of Urban Development.- Hydrodynamicsof Darwin Harbour.- An Estuarine Ecohydrology Model of Darwin Harbour, Australia.- Is Harbour Development Ecologically Sustainable?.