Transcript Ten Current Threats

TEN THREATS TO OCEAN HEALTH
April 2012
GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
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Sea levels rise
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Temperature rises
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Storms, floods, weather
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Current patterns
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Coral bleaching
OCEAN ACIDIFICATION & CLIMATE CHANGE
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Caused by increasing man-made
carbon dioxide emissions
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Makes the ocean more acidic
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Changes the chemistry of the sea and
is harmful for many forms of marine
life
DEAD ZONES
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Swaths of ocean that don't support life
due to a lack of oxygen
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Growing at an alarming rate
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Over 400 known to exist
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Thought to be caused by global
climate change and fertilizer/pesticide
runoff
POLLUTION
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Over 80% of marine pollution comes
from land-based activities
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Oil Spills
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Production waste
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Marine Debris
• GPGP
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Shipping
OVERFISHING
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When the amount of fish caught is
more than the amount of fish needed
to sustain fish stocks in a given region
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Disrupts the food chain
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Bycatch – unintentional captures
IRRESPONSIBLE FISH FARMING
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Supposed to respond to overfishing
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Poorly managed operations
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Nutrient and chemical pollution
released into environment
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Accidental release of farmed fish is
also damaging
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Unregulated
INVASIVE SPECIES
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From:
• Illegal Aquarium trade
• Irresponsible aquarium owners
• Release of foreign bait
• Traveling Ships
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Displace native species
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Diminishes biodiversity
RESOURCE EXTRACTION & COASTAL
DEVELOPMENT
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Offshore drilling
• Chemicals like mercury, arsenic,
and lead also come up with the oil
• Seismic waves used harm marine
life
• Infrastructure erodes coastline
•
Mangrove destruction
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Habitat loss
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25% of all species may be extinct by
2050
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Tourism
SHARK FINNING/WHALING
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Affects everything
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50-100 million killed each year
• Bycatch
• Hunted
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When finned sharks are thrown back
still alive and bleed to death
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They reproduce too slowly for
populations to recover
MERCURY POISONING
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Coal plants
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Ends up in the food we eat
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Already contaminated water in all 50
states
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Biomagnification
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Tuna