via www.delhidailynews.com
A team of scientists, in a groundbreaking analysis of data from hundreds of sources, has concluded that humans are on the verge of causing unprecedented damage to the oceans and the animals living in them.
“We may be sitting on a precipice of a major extinction event,” said Douglas J. McCauley, an ecologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an author of the new research, which was published on Thursday in the journal Science.
But there is still time to avert catastrophe, Dr. McCauley and his colleagues also found. Compared with the continents, the oceans are mostly intact, still wild enough to bounce back to ecological health.
“We’re lucky in many ways,” said Malin L. Pinsky, a marine biologist at Rutgers University and another author of the new report. “The impacts are accelerating, but they’re not so bad we can’t reverse them.”
Scientific assessments of the oceans’ health are dogged by uncertainty: It’s much harder for researchers to judge the well-being of a species living underwater, over thousands of miles, than to track the health of a species on land. And changes that scientists observe in particular ocean ecosystems may not reflect trends across the planet.
Dr. Pinsky, Dr. McCauley and their colleagues sought a clearer picture of the oceans’ health by pulling together data from an enormous range of sources, from discoveries in the fossil record to statistics on modern container shipping, fish catches and seabed mining. While many of the findings already existed, they had never been juxtaposed in such a way.
A number of experts said the result was a remarkable synthesis, along with a nuanced and encouraging prognosis.
“I see this as a call for action to close the gap between conservation on land and in the sea,” said Loren McClenachan of Colby College, who was not involved in the study.
There are clear signs already that humans are harming the oceans to a remarkable degree, the scientists found.
Read more: Ocean Life Faces Mass Extinction, Broad Study Says
The Latest on: Ocean Life Faces Mass Extinction
via Google News
The Latest on: Ocean Life Faces Mass Extinction
- NZ's fossils show more species lived in warmer waters, but current warming trends may break this patternon August 27, 2021 at 6:41 am
New Zealand may be relatively small, but its fossil record reveals a globally important ecological relationship between the number of species, their role in the ecosystem and ocean temperatures.
- New Zealand’s fossil record suggests more species lived in warmer waters. But the current rate of warming may break this patternon August 26, 2021 at 8:21 pm
New Zealand’s conservation needs to consider the long-term impact of climate change and focus not only on protecting native species but on preserving ecological richness.
- Study: Climate Change Will Worsen Disease Outbreaks for Ocean Mammalson August 25, 2021 at 5:00 pm
“The most devastating consequence will be the potential extinction ... ocean water is being diluted by the freshwater runoff from melting sea ice — bad news for prey and predator alike. Underfed ...
- Coral Reef Restoration Technology May Reverse Climate Change Damageon August 23, 2021 at 12:21 pm
The world is experiencing record-breaking summer temperatures. As the heat increased, various individuals flooded the beaches searching for relief. Some ...
- Extinction Rebellion begins two weeks of London protests 'targeting root cause of climate crisis'on August 23, 2021 at 5:37 am
Extinction Rebellion has begun two weeks of ... with activists gathering at Trafalgar Square, in what is its fifth mass demonstration. Gail Bradbrook, the group's co-founder, gave a speech ...
- IPSO: unprecedented deterioration of the oceans threatens marine specieson August 17, 2021 at 10:53 am
In a new report, they warn that ocean life is “at high ... world's reefs are at risk of severe decline. Life on Earth has gone through five ”mass extinction events“ caused by events such ...
- Volcanic Emissions Not Culpable for Most Recent Mass Extinction Event, Study Findson August 10, 2021 at 4:59 pm
The asteroid impact likely caused underwater volcanic eruptions that drove ocean acidity ... the end-Cretaceous extinction. Could another mass eruption after asteroid impact played a role in killing ...
- HALTING THE EXTINCTION CRISISon August 6, 2021 at 4:38 am
Our planet now faces a global extinction crisis ... It’s full of bold, life-changing initiatives including a call for a $100-billion investment in endangered species and protection of 30% of our lands ...
- The Permian Extinction—When Life Nearly Came to an Endon December 16, 2020 at 8:58 am
For years scientists have known that the deep ocean lacked oxygen ... Now we are creating a new mass extinction, wiping out countless species. Will life be as resilient this time?
via Bing News
