New Study Reveals Humans Impact on the World’s Oceans
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New Study Reveals Humans Impact on the World’s Oceans
According to the new study, more than 40 percent of the world’s oceans are heavily impacted by human activity.
(NOAA)
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(February, 27 2008) – More than 40 percent of the world’s oceans are heavily impacted by human activities, including overfishing and pollution, according to a new study in the journal Science.

Dr. Kenneth Casey, with NOAA’s National Oceanographic Data Center in Silver Spring, Md., and co-author of the study “A Global Map of Human Impact on Marine Ecosystems,” joined a team of researchers that combined 17 data sets of different human activities – from fishing and fertilizer run-off, to commercial shipping and pollution – and analyzed their effects on marine ecosystems, continental shelves and the deep ocean.

The results revealed the most heavily affected waters include the East Coast of North America, North Sea, South and East China Seas, Caribbean Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Bering Sea and areas off the western Pacific Ocean. Least affected areas are near the poles.

Casey said three measures of human-induced climate change were examined by the research team, including changes in sea surface temperatures, UV radiation, and ocean acidification. These measures were found to be among the most important factors in determining the global impacts.

“The extent of human influence was probably more than any of us expected,” said Casey. According to the study, the ecosystems most at threat are: coral reefs, which house more than 25 percent of all marine life and protect against wave erosion; seagrass beds, which are nursery grounds for young fish and mangroves, which grow in coastal habitats and also help ward off erosion.

“This project allows us to finally start seeing the big picture of how humans are affecting the oceans,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Ben Halpern.

Casey said the study established the framework for routinely assessing the state of marine ecosystems in the future. “As we compile more and better data, they can be fed back into the study to see where things stand.”

Latest Comments

Posted by: Frank Location: Kempner on Mar 2, 2008 at 03:36 PM

Why should this surprise anyone now? For years (decades ago), the media has shown US barges ladden with garbage, especially hospital bio hazards being taken out to sea and dumped. Its been happening for decades and sorry it has. Remember when one could not walk barefoot along the shores on the east coast, because hospital syringes were being washed up? Civilization needs to look where ever it can to reduce polution, not just throw it out into someone else's backyard (the ocean in this case) before its too late. Unfortunately, you probably would not be able to stop the up and coming industrial countries, because they will not want to absorb the cost of disposing the garbage in the best way for the environmental.
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