A Reef in Time: The Great Barrier Reef from Beginning to End

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 304 pages
• Published by: Belknap Press January 31, 2008
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0674026799
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0674026797
• Book Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Weighs: 1.4 pounds

From Publishers Weekly
Veron (Corals of the World) once thought Australia's Great Barrier Reef would endure forever, but after witnessing the devastation inflicted on corals by elevated sea temperatures, he now knows this is false. In his impassioned book, the former chief scientist with the Australian Institute of Marine Science highlights reefs as indicators of climate change's effects on marine and other ecosystems. Time from a reef's perspective, rather than a human perspective, is one of the book's central themes. Past mass extinctions have occurred within the lengthy frames of geological time that allowed reefs to renew themselves. Today, as reefs succumb to mass bleaching (caused by high light and elevated temperatures) and ocean acidification, they are undergoing an extinction event in the significantly shorter frame of human planetary influence. Coral health affects all marine life. According to Veron's detailed analysis, corals will be incapable of relying on genetic adaptation to recover because the time frame for such evolutionary changes is too short. Complex scientific material serves Veron's straightforward message: climate change will soon reach the point of no return—possibly within a decade—and cause disaster for not only corals but many, if not all, marine food webs. Color illus. (Jan.)
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Product Review
Veron once thought Australia's Great Barrier Reef would endure forever, but after witnessing the devastation inflicted on corals by elevated sea temperatures, he now knows this is false. In his impassioned book, the former chief scientist with the Australian Institute of Marine Science highlights reefs as indicators of climate change's effects on marine and other ecosystemsCoral health affects all marine life. According to Veron's detailed analysis, corals will be incapable of relying on genetic adaptation to recover because the time frame for such evolutionary changes is too short. Complex scientific material serves Veron's straightforward message: climate change will soon reach the point of no return--possibly within a decade--and cause disaster for not only corals but many, if not all, marine food webs. (Publishers Weekly 20080228)

Decades of study of coral reefs inform J. E. N. Vernon's big-picture account of the reef's past and future. It is an urgent, rigorous yet accessible tour de force of the geology, evolution, biology and chemistry of the reef presented through the prism of climate changeBy looking at past "extinction events," like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs, Vernon offers an alarming glimpse into a similar future.
--Fiona Capp (The Age 20080607)

A historical, geological and biological study of the largest coral reef. The chief scientist of the Australian Institute of Marine Science uses the Great Barrier Reef as an alarming case study on the future of coral reefs. Although it is a hypothetical tale, it is a worrying look at how the Earth is in danger of suffering the worst case of mass extinction seen for 65 million years. (Times Higher Education Supplement 20080401)

Not a chronicle of the life of coral reefs, but an anticipation of their death. It is a work grounded in science, but which departed from the careful jargon of probability and possibility to become an impassioned, anguished eulogy delivered by a dear friend of the imminently deceased[Veron‘s] book travels back through the fossil record to the remote past, reflecting on the five great extinction events that wiped out much of life on earth and finding a thread of commonality.
--Jo Chandler (The Age 20080401)

This is not a book for the faintheartedIndeed, Veron believes we are on the brink of the sixth mass extinction of the planet. He makes his case in this book and paints a vivid picture of what we will be losing if we do not stop spewing greenhouse gases into the atmosphereThe book is easy to read with well-placed illustrations to explain complex concepts. It presents its argument in a logical and increasingly disturbing sequence that reaches a bleak end. It is a plea for urgent action written by a man who is passionate about the Great Barrier Reef. It should be read widely by anyone who cares about our planet.
--Louise Goggin (Australian Marine Science Association Bulletin 20080801)

Time is running out for the Great Barrier Reef, and no one knows it better than J. E. N. VeronA Reef in Time is fascinating in that it puts climate change in context of the history of the earth, by concentrating on one element of it. It's bleak—but not as bleak as the outlook for the reef—and is backed up by extensive data and scientific research and analysis. It is the whole, and last, word on the Great Barrier Reef and climate change.
--Jodie Davis and Margaret Ambrose (Habitat Australia )

This impressive volume covers a large topic and does so very well. Though it is ostensibly centered on the Great Barrier Reef, the book treats the general nature of and environmental controls on coral reefs, and their history over geologic time since the Silurian PeriodThe book is highly readable and well produced.
--N. Caine (Choice )

Reader Reviews
Excellent overview of the Great Barrier Reef's history. The text flows, is extremely easy to read, and the chapters and headings are set out logically. Much of the background involves controversial theories (e.g. reasons for major extinctions), and these, among others, are discussed thoroughly and with sufficient maps, given the relatively short length and overall scope of the book. The important points (carbon dioxide and ocean acidification) are drilled home repeatedly without a loss of their impact. It is clear that the target audience for this book is for newcomers to the fields of coral research or paleontology. The only major flaw I see in the book are the many identical diagrams and photographs from previous publications by Dr. Veron, but, for those who pick up this book with no prior knowledge, this same information must be novel and informative. Even for those who have a background in the above fields, there is enough new information in this book to satisfy, and a few veritable gems of insight and observation. This book has a few ideas which people may or may not agree with Dr. Veron, but it is well-researched and well-argued. The overriding message presented in the final chapters is certainly the focus of the book, and in the end, the other details which may or may not be correct rightly take a back seat. Overall a recommended read.