The Promise of Ocean History for Environmental History

Paul Sutter closes his essay on the state of the field of environmental history by calling attention to the relatively short time during which humans have transformed the planet--a point that certainly applies to the ocean. Anthropogenically induced global climate change is affecting ocean temperature and acidity. Here, Rozwadowski narrates that although few historians so far have embraced the vertical seriously, ocean history does seem to be rather naturally oriented toward consideration of categories of space. She stresses that ocean history written in the context of the unfolding field of environmental history holds the promise of recognizing the hybridity of the ocean and, through that awareness, finding an appropriate balance of nature and culture.