Climate change is now creating enhanced risks of coastal erosion through storms and rising sea levels. This text provides a comprehensive review of the entire coastline of Europe, and provides a comparative analysis of the various erosion problems and solutions from across the continent.

The 1992 Rio Earth Summit in its Agenda 21 document committed nations to the sustainable development of their coastal areas through the implementation of integrated coastal zone management (ICZM) policies. ICZM promotes an integrated long-term view of coastal zones which takes socio-economic and environmental concerns into account. This report sets out the first integrated spatial assessment of Europe's coasts, undertaken in order to analyse key trends and developments in coastal ecosystems, to examine current policies and financial instruments directed towards coastal management, to monitor progress towards sustainable development objectives and to identify a number of priority areas for action, in light of the review of EU Recommendation 2002/413/EC.

This report has three elements. Firstly, it gives a snapshot of the current state of Europe's coastal regions. Secondly, it assesses the policies used to manage coastal regions, and discusses the proposal for a new European directive to improve the management of coastal regions. Thirdly, it highlights the need for better information and better monitoring tools to help inform this management process

In this book, coastal dune specialists from tropical and temperate latitudes cover a wide set of topics, including: geomorphology, community dynamics, ecophysiology, biotic interactions and environmental problems and conservation. The book offers recommendations for future research, identifying relevant topics where detailed knowledge is still lacking. It also identifies management tools that will promote and maintain the rich diversity of the dune environments in the context of continuing coastal development.

Coastal areas have experienced unprecedented dramatic changes in the last half of the 20th century, especially in zones used for tourism development. This code of conduct and model law on coastal areas establishes some general management principles aimed at the sustainable development of coastal areas and the preservation of their environmental values.

Recent assessment of progress in coastal management at the national level shows an impressive growth of efforts after the 1992 Earth Summit, particularly in Europe and the Mediterranean. This book contains regional surveys of coastal management progress in Europe and the Mediterranean since 1992, discussion regional trends, development sin decision making, and cooperative activities. It then goes on to assess national progress towards coastal management, including the development of national coastal management systems, efforts at coordinated planning and management, and the development and use of environmental codes of practice. It then examines selected priority issues in the Northern Adriatic: economic integration and regional economic development, international scientific and technological cooperation in marine affairs and coastal tourism. Finally, the book covers the use of GIS in coastal environments and coastal engineering, the role played by scientific information in coastal policy, and the importance of free trade agreements.

This thoroughly revised and expanded edition of the much acclaimed Encyclopedia of Coastal Science edited by M. Schwarz (Springer 2005), presents an interdisciplinary approach that includes biology, ecology, engineering, geology, geomorphology, oceanography, remote sensing, technological advances, and anthropogenic impacts on coasts. Within its covers the Encyclopedia of Coastal Science, 2nd ed. brings together and coordinates many aspects of coastal and related sciences that are widely dispersed in the scientific literature. The broadly interdisciplinary subject matter of this volume features contributions by over 280 well-known international specialists in their respective fields and provides an abundance of figures in full-color with line drawings and photographs, and other illustrations such as satellite images. Not only does this volume offer a large number of new and revised entries, it also includes an illustrated glossary of coastal geomorphology, extensive bibliographic citations, and cross-references. It provides a comprehensive reference work for students, scientific and technical professionals as well as administrators, managers, and informed lay readers. Reviews from the first edition: Awarded for Excellence in Scholarly and Professional Publishing: “Honorable Mention”, in the category Single Volume/Science from the Association of American Publishers (AAP) 2005. "The contents and approach are interdisciplinary and, under a single cover, one finds subjects normally scattered throughout scientific literature." "The topics cover a broad spectrum, so does the geographic range of the contributors. ... besides geomorphologists, biologists, ecologists, engineers, geographers, geologists, oceanographers and technologists will find information related to their respective fields ... . Inclusion of appendices ... is very useful. The illustrated glossary of geomorphology will prove very useful for many of us ... ." Roger H. Charlier, Journal of Coastal Research, Volume 21, Issue 4, Page 866, July 2005. "It is an excellent work that should be included in any carefully selected list of best science reference books of the year "Summing Up: Highly recommended. " M.L. Larsgaard, Choice, Volume 43, Issue 6, Page 989, February 2006. "This volume is a comprehensive collection of articles covering all aspects of the subject: social and economic, engineering, coastal processes, habitats, erosion, geological features, research and observation." ... "As with similar works reviewed, I chose to read articles on familiar topics to see if they covered the expected, and some on unfamiliar topics to see if they could be readily understood. The book passed both tests, but the style is denser and more fact-filled than most of the encyclopedias I have reviewed." John Goodier, Reference Reviews, Volume 20, Issue 2, pages 35-36, 2006