Multiple ocean stresses threaten “globally significant” marine
extinction 20 June 2011 | News story An international panel of
experts warns in a report released today that marine species are
at risk of entering a phase of extinction unprecedented in human
history. The preliminary report arises from a ‘State of the
Oceans’ workshop co-hosted by IUCN in April, the first ever to
consider the cumulative impact of all pressures on the oceans.
Considering the latest research across all areas of marine
science, the workshop examined the combined effects of
pollution, acidification, ocean warming, over-fishing and
hypoxia (deoxygenation). The scientific panel concluded that the
combination of stresses on the ocean is creating the conditions
associated with every previous major extinction of species in
Earth’s history. And the speed and rate of degeneration in the
ocean is far greater than anyone has predicted. The panel
concluded that many of the negative impacts previously
identified are greater than the worst predi