Urbanization has already reached unprecedented levels in the estuarine and coastal zone of the Asia Pacific region where mega-cities and mega-harbours have developed and are still growing. Environmental degradation is significant and growing. The social, economic and environmental problems are pressing and call for science-based solutions. This book details how science can provide solutions so that economic and social developments can be ecologically sustainable. Twelve sites are discussed in detail, integrating physics and biology, and between science and engineering. In turn these are linked to economic and social issues. These sites are Tokyo Bay, the Pearl Estuary, Hong Kong, Shanghai and the Yangtze delta, Klang, Manila Bay, Jakarta Bay, Pearl Harbor, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok and the upper Gulf of Thailand, Singapore, and Darwin. This is the shoreline of about 50 million people and the coastal waters of about 500 million people. Sixty prominent scientists and engineers in universities and research centres in all these cities contributed the chapters in this book.

Shows significance and growth of environmental degradation in the Asia Pacific region

Increasing Trade and Urbanisation of the Asia Pacific Coast.- Tokyo Bay: Its Environmental Status - Past, Present, and Future.- Ecological Network Linked by the Planktonic Larvae of the Clam Ruditapes Philippinarum in Tokyo Bay.- Circulation Processes in Tokyo Bay.- Effects of Oceanic Water Intrusion on the Tokyo Bay Environment.- Influence of the Deep Waterway Project on the Changjiang Estuary.- Impact of Human Activities on the Health of Ecosystems in the Changjiang Delta Region.- Geographical and Economical Setting of the Pearl River Estuary.- Physical Processes and Sediment Dynamics in the Pearl River.- Water Quality and Phytoplankton Blooms in the Pearl River Estuary.- Pollution Studies on Mangroves in Hong Kong and Mainland China.- Field and Model Studies of Water Quality in Hong Kong.- Eutrophication Dynamics in Hong Kong Coastal Waters: Physical and Biological Interactions.- Marine Communities and Introduced Species in Pearl Harbor, O'ahu, Hawai'i.- Physical Environment in the Gulf of Thailand with Emphasis on Three Important Ports.- Environmental Issues in the Gulf of Thailand.- The Environment in Ho Chi Minh City Harbours.- Biophysical Environment of Manila Bay - Then and Now.- Manila Bay: Environmental Challenges and Opportunities.- Carbon Flux Through Bacteria in a Eutrophic Tropical Environment: Port Klang Waters.- Phytoplankton Structure in the Tropical Port Waters of Singapore.- Marine Habitats in One of the World's Busiest Harbours.- The Physical Oceanography of Singapore Coastal Waters and Its Implications for Oil Spills.- Managing the Port of Jakarta Bay: Overcoming the Legacy of 400 Years of Adhoc Development.- Darwin Harbour: Water Quality and Ecosystem Structure on a Tropical Harbour in the Early Stages of Urban Development.- Hydrodynamicsof Darwin Harbour.- An Estuarine Ecohydrology Model of Darwin Harbour, Australia.- Is Harbour Development Ecologically Sustainable?.