Time running out to curb effects of deep sea pollution, warns UN

[Judi Lynn]

Time running out to curb effects of deep sea pollution, warns UN

· Pace of change outstrips conservation efforts
· Water temperature rises as alkalinity falls

David Adam, environment correspondent
Saturday June 17, 2006
The Guardian

Damage to the once pristine habitats of the deep oceans by pollution, litter and overfishing is running out of control, the United Nations warned yesterday. In a report that indicates that time is running out to save them, the UN said humankind's exploitation of the the deep seas and oceans was "rapidly passing the point of no return".
Last year some 85 million tonnes of wild fish were pulled from the global oceans, 100 million sharks and related species were butchered for their fins, some 250,000 turtles became tangled in fishing gear, and 300,000 seabirds, including 100,000 albatrosses, were killed by illegal longline fishing.

Into the water in their place went three billion individual pieces of litter - about eight million a day - joining the 46,000 pieces of discarded plastic that currently float on every square mile of ocean and kill another million seabirds each year. The water temperature rose and its alkalinity fell - both the result of climate change. Coral barriers off Australia and Belize are dying and newly discovered reefs in the Atlantic have already been destroyed by bottom trawling.

Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN's environment programme, said: "Humankind's ability to exploit the deep oceans and high seas has accelerated rapidly over recent years. It is a pace of change that has outstripped our institutions and conservation efforts."
(snip/...)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/waste/story/0,,1799816,00.html

[struggle4progress]

1. kick

:kick:

[Tellurian]

2. yes, kick..

Shame on the apathy here!

Thanks, Al!

Suggestion: Al- SPEAK LOUDER- SO THEY CAN HEAR YOU!!!

[pitohui]

3. tragedy of the commons

there is no point in saving the ocean because if you don't take every fish, someone else will

i have no suggestions that are useful but i'll give a kick in case someone less despairing does

[Puglover]

5. I agree...sometimes

I wish Gaia would wake up and take care of things herself. I think it's not beyond the pale to think that someday she will.

[Judi Lynn]

4. UN warns urgent action needed to protect world oceans

Mercosur
Saturday, 17 June

UN warns urgent action needed to protect world oceans

Swift and wide ranging actions are needed to conserve the world’s entire marine environment amid fears that humankind’s exploitation of the deep seas and open oceans is rapidly passing the point of no return, according to a United Nations-backed report issued Friday that calls for urgent measures to conserve areas where more than 90% of the planet’s living biomass lives.

The new study, ‘Ecosystems and Biodiversity in Deep Waters and High Seas’, which was issued jointly by the UN Environment Programme and the World Conservation Union (IUCN), argues that the many lessons learnt on conserving coastal waters should be adapted and applied right across the marine world, including in areas beyond national jurisdiction.

"Humankind's ability to exploit the deep oceans and high seas has accelerated rapidly over recent years. It is a pace of change that has outstripped our institutions and conservation efforts whose primary focus have been coastal waters where, until recently, most human activity like fishing and industrial exploration took place,” said Achim Steiner, UNEP’s Executive Director.

“We now most urgently need to look beyond the horizon and bring the lessons learnt in coastal water to the wider marine world," he added at the report’s launch in New York, which took place as countries and experts are holding talks on the law of the sea.
(snip/...)

http://www.mercopress.com/Detalle.asp?NUM=8151

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last Update: Friday, June 16, 2006. 10:14pm (AEST)
UN urges urgent action on oceans

Conservationists say urgent action is needed to save the world's oceans from increasing threats from human exploitation.

The United Nations Environment Program blames overfishing, pollution, climate change and shipping.

Its report says populations of large fish have declined by as much as 90 per cent in the last century.

It says there are more than 46,000 pieces of plastic litter floating in every square mile of ocean.
(snip/...)

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200606/s1665218.htm

[Barrett808]

6. World's oceans reaching point of no return, says UN

World's oceans reaching point of no return, says UN
By Sam Knight

The UN has warned the world's governments that humankind's exploitation of the sea could be passing the point of no return.

A report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) found that more than half of the world's fish stocks are being exploited to their full extent, with nearly a quarter suffering from over-fishing.

Meanwhile, pollution, litter and deep sea drilling are all reaching into the depths of a marine environment hitherto preserved from the hand of man.

...

Industrial fishing has helped to drive down the world's stocks of tuna, cod, swordfish and marlin by as much as 90 per cent in the last century.

...

Illegal longline fishing also kills more than 300,000 seabirds every year, including 100,000 albatrosses. Nineteen out 21 albatross species are now threatened with extinction.

(more)

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2229211,00.html

[NastyDiaper]

7. And that's just the bad news before carbonic acid melts..

..everything without a backbone.

Club Med? How about Club Soda?

[Puglover]

8. At the risk of being overly dramatic.

I'm glad I'm 52. I'm also glad I had no children. I'm very glad that neither I or my children will have to endure a world where there are no coral reefs or sharks or any of the other things we are happily killing past the point of no return. It makes me indescribably sad.

[Barrett808]

9. Agreed

My wife and I aren't having children, largely because we don't wannt to watch them starve to death as the world's climate and ecosystems collapse.

[dysfunctional press]

10. we're 45/48 and childless by choice.

we've also been diving for awhile, and have seen some of the changes over the years with our own eyes.

humans are badly fucking up this planet- and the worst is yet to come.

i just hope i live long enough to see planet earth strike back in a significant, dramatic and unmistakable way.