A new textbook co-written by Coastal Carolina University marine science faculty members Daniel C. Abel and Eric Koepfler covers the environmental issues relating to the world's oceans. Published in November by Prentice Hall, Issues in Oceanography by Abel, Koepfler and Robert L. McConnell of Mary Washington College, assists readers in developing the mathematical and analytical skills necessary to think critically about, and gain insight into, important marine environmental issues.

The 50-page book, designed to be used at the senior high school through advanced college level, explores such topics as coastal population growth, coral reefs, global warming and rising sea level.

Abel, who joined the Coastal faculty in 1994, earned a Ph.D. in 1986 from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego. He has published many scientific articles on sharks and tropical air-breathing fish and is conducting a long-term study of the sharks of Winyah Bay and nearby waters in Georgetown, S.C.

Koepfler, an associate professor, joined the Coastal faculty in 1990. He earned a Ph.D. from the College of William and Mary in 1989. He is director of The Loggerhead Sea Turtles Protection Program sponsored by the Center for Marine and Wetland Studies at Coastal.

The contents of the book are also included in the new edition of the textbook, Introductory Oceanography edited by Harold V. Thurman.