A global map of human impact on marine ecosystems
The core scientific mission of The Changing Oceans Expedition revolves around a 10 year strategy to test and build upon a global map of human impact on marine ecosystems.
It took over five years to develop and publish the initial innovative global map of cumulative impact on the Oceans. The current version of the map includes 17 different layers corresponding to human activities in categories like fishing, climate change, and pollution. In addition 20 layers account for various distinct types of marine ecosystem.
The results, while only based on projection and mathematical models, have already been received with great enthusiasm by policy-makers, conservationists and educators. The map was published in Science Magazine in February 2008 and is also being used extensively by local, federal, and international resource management agencies to guide marine management and conservation actions.
For the first time, it is possible to gain a perspective on the combined effect of the myriad of human activities stressing our living oceans, from fishing to climate change to land-based pollution. The map paints a picture of the total consequence of human activities on the oceans. However, it is critical to validate the global map, by visiting diverse underwater sites and assessing how actual ocean health relates to the predicted cumulative impact from the map. The Changing Oceans Expedition is providing the opportunity to get in the water and actually see how well the map predicts the true condition of marine ecosystems as well as revisit still unanswered questions about the ecological differences between pristine and degraded marine areas and the consequences of these differences for human society.
"Validating the map in the field is a particularly urgent and critical need as it gets further integrated into ocean conservation and policy worldwide" Benjamin S. Halpern, PhD
The validated map will enable managers to quantify the impact every proposed activity has on the ocean, so that overall affect can be controlled and minimized. They will allow policymakers to compare the state of their country's waters to others, to set goals for improving ocean health, and to better understand the conflicts or potential synergies between industries and user groups that will come from zoning the oceans e.g. the setting up of MPAs.
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List of human impacts
Climate change (Acidification)
Climate change poses different problems in the sea than it does on land. One of the main concerns among scientists is that, as more and more of the excessive carbon we produce dissolves into the sea, the water will become more acidic. This, of course, changes the parameters of life for countless sea creatures, many of which will simply not be able to adapt. Coral reefs are a prime example, as they [...]
Climate change (Temperature and UV)
Carbon emissions into the atmosphere have increased considerably (361 GT of carbon between 1800 and 1999) since the industrial age.
Greenhouse gas directly affects the oceans in two ways:
* Brings about
an increase in the temperature of the sea surface.
During the last century, it is estimated that this increase averaged 0.6C. The variations in the temperature of the marin [...]
Fish resources and overfishing
Fishing and aquaculture provide a livelihood for some 540 million people around the globe, i.e. 8% of the world's population. A billion more depend on fish and seafood as their main source of protein, and yet over-fishing is threatening just about every marine ecosystem out there. If these collapse, so do fish stocks. Tuna, cod and swordfish are already down some 90%.
What is the i [...]
Invasive species
Mixing and interbreeding different life forms can yield happy results, but it can also have drastic consequences. Through our commercial and recreational activities we have introduced many species into areas they would otherwise never have reached. Some of these have settled in nicely and developed alongside local flora and fauna. Some have died off. But too many others have become invasive specie [...]
Maritime traffic
Compared to other tranports, shipping is one of the less damaging ways to transport goods around the planet. With huge vessels we can carry a lot at a time and more than 90 per cent of trade uses marine transport. But shipping has become a classic case of too much of a good thing. With incessant traffic over the oceans comes chemical pollution, noise pollution, garbage, ballast discharge and colli [...]
Pollution
Every day some 8 million pieces of junk are thought to be thrown into the world's oceans, most of them from ships, but many from rivers, beach goers, and even from airplanes. The sea has become a dump, and we are reaching critical levels of pollution. Every square mile contains over 70,000 items made of plastic. This can reach up to six times the natural plankton population. It is estimated some 1 [...]