Ocean impacts mapped
Maps of the world usually have lots of lovely blue to show where the oceans are. This map, showing damage to our oceans, is all yellow, oranges and reds with only small bits of pristine blue. It's hardly the first warning from scientists about the state of the oceans, but it's the most thorough and graphical. From the Baltimore Sun:
In one of the most comprehensive looks yet at the oceans, researchers say that humans have "strongly" fouled 41 percent of the high seas with everything from storm water runoff to shipping waste and that only small polar regions are still untouched."Almost half of the oceans are in a fairly degraded state, based on what we found," said Benjamin Halpern, the report's lead author and a marine biologist at the California-based National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. "There isn't a spot on the planet that hasn't been touched by humans."
The report was published today in Science Magazine (subscription). There's a Google Earth layer for the map (and an animated flyover) here, and another animated flyover on NPR's website. See Science Daily for more info.
And as Benjamin Halpern, the report's lead author, says, "There are things people can do". Ask questions about where the fish you eat comes from, avoid fertilizers and pesticides (buy organic), cut down on your carbon footprint and sign our marine reserves petition.
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