ABSTRACT
Human civilization in the twenty-fi rst century depends on ports for jobs, the transport of energy supplies, raw materials, and fi nished products. Ports help societies meet their basic needs of food and shelter and they enhance quality of life. Indeed, civilization as we know it would be very different without the ports and maritime trade that serves as the backbone to both global and local development. But global warming and the resulting changes to environmental conditions on the coast require that we rethink the future of this vital infrastructure that serves the needs of the international community.1 This rethinking will be a monumental task for decades, if not centuries, to come. At the time of writing this volume, we are only in the very fi rst stages of rising to this challenge.
