[Reader-list] Fwd: mass extinctions in the seas

[Nagraj Adve]

In one Modesty Blaise novel, a baddie makes a small animal eat its own
limbs.
That, more or less, is what we are doing to ourselves.
Problem is, we are doing a lot else to other species.
Naga
 'Shocking' state of seas threatens mass extinction, say marine experts

Overfishing and pollution putting fish, sharks and whales in extreme danger
– with extinction 'inevitable', study finds
Fiona Harvey <http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/fiona-harvey>, environment
correspondent

   - guardian.co.uk <http://www.guardian.co.uk/>, Monday 20 June 2011 19.21
   BST
   - Article history<http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jun/20/marine-life-oceans-extinction-threat?intcmp=122#history-link-box>
    [image: Coral Reef, Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia] [image: View
   larger picture]
   <http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/6/20/1308594031627/Coral-Reef-Raja-Ampat-Wes-001.jpg>
   Record high temperatures during 1998 wiped out 16% of all tropical coral
   reefs. Photograph: Darryl Leniuk/Radius Images/Corbis

   Fish, sharks, whales and other marine species are in imminent danger of
   an "unprecedented" and catastrophic extinction event at the hands of
   humankind, and are disappearing at a far faster rate than anyone had
   predicted, a study of the world's
oceans<http://www.stateoftheocean.org/>has found.

   Mass extinction of species will be "inevitable" if current trends
   continue, researchers said.

   Overfishing, pollution <http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/pollution>,
   run-off of fertilisers from farming and the acidification of the seas caused
   by increasing carbon dioxide emissions are combining to put marine creatures
   in extreme danger, according to the report from the International
   Programme on the State of the Ocean
(Ipso)<http://www.stateoftheocean.org/research.cfm>,
   prepared at the first international workshop to consider all of the
   cumulative stresses affecting the
oceans<http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/oceans>at Oxford
University.

   The international panel of marine experts said there was a "high risk of
   entering a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human
   history". They said the challenges facing the oceans created "the conditions
   associated with every previous major extinction of species in Earth's
   history".

   "The findings are shocking," said Alex Rogers, scientific director of
   Ipso. "As we considered the cumulative effect of what humankind does to the
   ocean, the implications became far worse than we had individually realised.
   This is a very serious situation demanding unequivocal action at every
   level. We are looking at consequences for humankind that will impact in our
   lifetime, and worse, our children's and generations beyond that."

   The flow of soil nutrients into the oceans is creating huge "dead zones",
   where anoxia - the absence of oxygen - and hypoxia - low oxygen levels -
   mean fish and other marine
life<http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/marine-life>are unable to
survive there.

   Hypoxia and anoxia, warming and
acidification<http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/29/global-warming-threat-to-oceans?INTCMP=SRCH>are
factors present in every mass extinction event in the oceans over the
   Earth's history, according to scientific research. About 55m years ago, as
   much as half of some species of deep-sea creatures were wiped out when
   atmospheric changes created similar conditions.

   In recent years, human effects on the
oceans<http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jun/12/jellyfish-plankton-ocean-acid?INTCMP=SRCH>have
increased significantly. Overfishing has cut some fish populations by
   more than 90%. Pollutants, including flame-retardant chemicals and
   detergents are absorbed into particles of plastic waste in the sea, which
   are then ingested by marine creatures. Millions of fish, birds and other
   forms of life are choked or suffer internal ruptures from ingesting plastic
   waste.

   During 1998, record high temperatures wiped out about 16% of the
world's tropical
   coral reefs<http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/collaborative-working-shared-problems-possible-profitable?INTCMP=SRCH>
   .

   The scientists called on the United Nations and governments to
bring in measures
   to conserve marine ecosystems<http://www.stateoftheocean.org/solutions.cfm>.
   Dan Laffoley, of the International Union for the Conservation of
Nature<http://www.iucn.org/>,
   said: "The world's leading experts on oceans are surprised by the rate and
   magnitude of changes we are seeing. The challenges for the future of the
   oceans are vast, but unlike previous generations we know what now needs to
   happen. The time to protect the blue heart of our planet is now, today and
   urgent".