Only 13 percent of the world's oceans are still wild

[Judi Lynn]

The forecast isn’t looking great, either.

By Anna Brooks Yesterday at 1:30pm

Reaching the deepest depths of all the world’s oceans seems unfathomable. But new research suggests we’re getting close, and that’s not a good thing.

Only 13 percent of the planet’s ocean waters are still considered truly wild—meaning free from human activity—according to a study that came out Thursday in the journal Current Biology.

After years analyzing comprehensive datasets of the Earth’s 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.

“It’s 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.”

More:
https://www.popsci.com/marine-wilderness-13-percent?dom=rss-default&src=syn