Only 13 percent of the world's oceans are still wild
The forecast isnt looking great, either.
By Anna Brooks Yesterday at 1:30pm
Reaching the deepest depths of all the worlds oceans seems unfathomable. But new research suggests were getting close, and thats not a good thing.
Only 13 percent of the planets ocean waters are still considered truly wildmeaning free from human activityaccording to a study that came out Thursday in the journal
Current Biology.
After years analyzing comprehensive datasets of the Earths oceans, conservation biologist Kendall Jones was disheartened to discover that more than 118 million square miles of ocean ecosystems are unable to function naturally due to human impacts like commercial shipping, fertilizer runoff, and fishing. Of this small slice of remaining marine wilderness, the study also found that less than half is in protected marine areas.
Its concerning because those unimpacted places in the ocean allow a lot of ecosystems to function, says Jones, a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland, and lead author of the study. Maintaining these impact-free areas of the ocean is important for maintaining the entire ocean, not just the health of specific wilderness areas.
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