Mapping the Human Impact on Marine Ecosystems

Map of human impact on global marine ecosystems

A map of the human impact on global marine ecosystems has been published in today’s issue of Science; it reveals that only four percent of the world’s oceans have not been affected by human activity. Matt Perry was part of the research team: “To summarize, we found that the entire ocean is affected and 40% is heavily impacted. It is not all bad news as there are many areas of relatively low impact which could provide examples for ecosystem restoration and opportunities for conservation. The global map is the first of its kind and will help clarify and quantify our cumulative impacts on the ocean and allow us to focus efforts geographically.” Via Free Geography Tools.

Other coverage: Science Daily (via Catholicgauze); Universe Today; Scientific American (thanks to Mike Miller for the link).

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