Introduction

This book is about climate change adaptation and the coastal zone. The coastal zone is the place where land, sea, and air meet. The encounter can be abrupt, waves crashing against towering cliffs, or it can be gentle, the subtle meanderings of tides over coastal mudats. Coastal ecosystems provide abundant resources, goods, and services that sustain coastal communities. We cherish the coast because of its incredible diversity, richness, and beauty (Figure 1.1). Ironically, because they are such attractive locations, the world’s coastal zones are increasingly jeopardized by ill-considered development, by unsustainable resource use, and by, arguably the most signicant threat posed by human activity, climate change. As the majority of the world’s population live at the land-sea interface or depend on the coastal zone, the coast is the frontline in humanity’s endeavor to learn to live with climate change (Box 1.1).