March 3, 2009

"Hot off the press", Sea Sick is the first book to examine the current state of the world’s oceans - the great unexamined ecological crisis of the planet - and the fact that we are altering everything about them; temperature, salinity, acidity, ice cover, volume, circulation, and, of course, the life within them.

“A riveting book of revelations about Earth’s largest and most important habitat.”
          - Tim Flannery, author of The Weathermakers

All life - whether on land or in the sea - depends on the oceans for two things:

• Oxygen. Most of Earth’s oxygen is produced by phytoplankton in the sea. These humble, one-celled organisms, rather than the spectacular rain forests, are the true lungs of the planet. See example photographs of plankton below.
• Climate control. Our climate is regulated by the ocean’s currents, winds, and water-cycle activity.

“Each chapter in the book blends lucid, factual explanation of complex subjects with engaging chronicles of the author’s travels to far-flung parts of the globe.”
          - Quill & Quire

“Sea Sick is the most comprehensive book to date on the state of our oceans. With a writer’s eye for detail and a reporter’s expertise in pulling in disparate information, Mitchell has woven a powerful and deeply unsettling story about our collective abuse of the cradle of all life. Fortunately, she also gives us hope and a path forward if we have the wisdom to act.”
          - Maude Barlow

Alanna Mitchell joins the crews of leading scientists in nine of the global ocean’s hotspots to see firsthand what is really happening around the world. Whether it’s the impact of coral reef bleaching, the puzzle of the oxygen-less dead zones such as the one in the Gulf of Mexico, or the shocking implications of the changing Ph balance of the sea, Mitchell explains the science behind the story to create an engaging, accessible yet authoritative account.

Alanna Mitchell was the science and environment reporter at the Globe and Mail for fourteen years, until she left daily journalism to devote herself to writing on science. In 2000, she was named the best environmental reporter in the world by the Reuters Foundation and was invited in 2002 to undertake a guest fellowship at Oxford University. Out of this came her first book, Dancing at the Dead Sea, published in 2004. Mitchell is an associate at the International Institute for Sustainable Development and is a frequent speaker and guest lecturer on environmental issues. She lives in Toronto with her husband and two children.

“Keeping the ocean's life switch turned on will require all of us to, like Mitchell, choose hope and to do something about it. Reading this book is a good first step.”
          - Montreal Gazette

→ Sea Sick is published in Canada by McClelland & Stewart. For more information visit their website
www.mcclelland.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780771061165

Above: Plankton photo examples © Plankton Productions

Other Book:

→ Coral Reefs and Climate Change: the guide for education and awareness

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