Hugh Bollinger / Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The next mass extinction

A report on "the next mass extinction" was just released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and several other organizations. The State of the Oceans was submitted to the UN. A video commentary is worth viewing as most folks will still be living to see this event unlike the one that extinguished the dinosaurs: Ignorance, greed, pollution, and ineffective regulations are the prime culprits. The report concludes that beyond the national 200 mile territorial limits, it is "open season" in the oceans. The authors continue: "examination of synergistic threats leads us to the conclusion that we have underestimated the overall risks and that the whole of marine degradation is greater than the sum of its parts, and that degradation is now happening at a faster rate than predicted.’’ The environmental concept of "sustainability" originated from fisheries science in the early years of the 20th Century but rarely practiced. Restoration of marine ecosystems is possible but a change in attitudes towards the oceans-- ecosystems that sustain us all --is critically needed and sadly lacking. WHB

George Perkins March (1801-1882) Frog found

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Tags: marine conservation ocean conservation mass extinctions UN oceans report YouTube

The next mass extinction

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