We live in a world where the loss of sea ice and thawing of coastal grounds in the north, and renewed marine transgression and an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events globally, are becoming commonplace. This volume presents a timely examination of coasts, the geological environment at particular risk as global warming brings on this new reality. In 23 papers, low lying, mainly siliciclastic coasts are reviewed, described and analysed under a variety of climates in quasi-stable tectonic settings along passive, trailing-continental edges from Polar Regions to the Tropics. Examples include coasts of the Arctic seas, temperate to tropical eastern shores of the Americas, western Portugal, Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, South Africa and Australia. The entire coastal zone is considered, ranging from geophysical processes and products to biological entities including the adaption of inhabitants of various climatic zones. Knowledge of the state of the coasts now, and how the coastal plain has evolved since the Late Pleistocene, is crucial for any realistic planning for the future.