Climate change and our insatiable appetite for seafood could lead to mass extinctions of marine life and some pretty crazy new oceanscapes.

That’s the finding of a recent analysis that looked at data from hundreds of different sources on marine life and changes to the world’s oceans.

“We may be sitting on a precipice of a major extinction event,” Douglas J. McCauley, ecologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an author of the new research, told the New York Times.

The research, published in the recent issue of the journal Science, says the oceans could rebound from current conditions, probably better than the mass extinctions happening on land. But it’s significantly more difficult to track the health of sea animals than those on land.

“There are clear signs already that humans are harming the oceans to a remarkable degree,” the Times notes. “Some ocean species are certainly overharvested, but even greater damage results from large-scale habitat loss, which is likely to accelerate as technology advances the human footprint.”

One such example is the loss of coral reefs, which have declined by 40 percent, due mostly to climate change.

Fish are facing a number of challenges as well. “Some fish are migrating to cooler waters already. Black sea bass, once most common off the coast of Virginia, have moved up to New Jersey,” reports the Times. “Less fortunate species may not be able to find new ranges. At the same time, carbon emissions are altering the chemistry of seawater, making it more acidic.”

Mangroves are being replaced with fish farms, which already account for a significant percentage of fish in the food supply, and experts estimate they’ll provide most of the fish consumed by humans in the next 20 years. Fish farms bring their own set of consequences to oceans much in the same way factory farms pollute land – and there are other issues. Again, the Times:

“Bottom trawlers scraping large nets across the sea floor have already affected 20 million square miles of ocean, turning parts of the continental shelf to rubble. Whales may no longer be widely hunted, the analysis noted, but they are now colliding more often as the number of container ships rises.

“Mining operations, too, are poised to transform the ocean. Contracts for seabed mining now cover 460,000 square miles underwater, the researchers found, up from zero in 2000. Seabed mining has the potential to tear up unique ecosystems and introduce pollution into the deep sea.”

There are also issues being caused by all the plastic debris in the oceans—much of it winding up in the digestive systems of fish and birds.

But the analysis also found there is much we can do to reverse the damage.

“We’re lucky in many ways,” Malin L. Pinsky, a marine biologist at Rutgers University and another author of the report told the Times. “The impacts are accelerating, but they’re not so bad we can’t reverse them.”

The scientists say reducing our carbon emissions is going to make a huge difference in the health of the oceans.

“If by the end of the century we’re not off the business-as-usual curve we are now, I honestly feel there’s not much hope for normal ecosystems in the ocean,” Stephen R. Palumbi of Stanford University, an author of the study told the Times. “But in the meantime, we do have a chance to do what we can. We have a couple decades more than we thought we had, so let’s please not waste it.”

Find Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

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The environmental organization OCEARCH is bringing attention to ocean conservation and saving sharks globally. In fact, there’s an app for that.

OCEARCH has developed a global shark tracker–an app and website that uses GPS to show shark movements worldwide. Researchers from OCEARCH have pulled great whites, tiger sharks, and other large species out of the water and attached GPS tags.

Every time the sharks surface they ping to satellites, which updates their location. Currently, about 100 species are known by name–like Oprah, a young great white found off the shore of South Africa and Katherine, a 14-foot long great white that weighs over a ton and has been patrolling the Straights of Florida. She was first tagged in Cape Cod last August. The app is shining a light on ocean conservation and saving sharks.

OCEARCH partners with world class fishermen and researchers to catch sharks, test them, tag them with GPS, and then release them back into the wild unharmed.

Great whites are “the lions of the ocean,” said founding chairman and expedition leader Chris Fischer, who founded the research institute in 2007, reported in the Tampa Bay Times. “They keep the balance in the oceans. Without them, there would be no fish.”

The ocean conservation organization has completed 19 expeditions, tagging 150 sharks, 50 of which are still pinging. They hope the interactive nature of the app will get people interested in what’s going in our world’s oceans, especially the plight of sharks.

“We need another global ocean movement,” he said. “It’s getting hammered.”

If you go to the website, you can get a global picture of where sharks are and even follow them on Twitter. Katherine currently has 7,500 followers.

“It’s all about the power of inclusion,” said Fischer, who grew up in Kentucky and loved fishing and the outdoors, reported in the Tampa Bay Times. “We’re transitioning a research program into a global ocean movement.”

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These 10 simple steps – from reducing plastic usage to choosing an eco-friendly car wash – can help overcome the challenges faced by ocean ecosystems worldwide.

With every breath we take and every drop of water that we drink, we’re connected to the ocean – no matter where we live. The world’s oceans are the lungs of our planet, supplying most of our oxygen as well as a vast amount of our food and medicine. Life on earth simply can’t survive without healthy oceans, and yet marine ecosystems are faced with seemingly insurmountable threats like global warming, pollution and overfishing. What can we do to help? Here are 10 easy steps that we can all take to protect the oceans for World Oceans Day.

1. Use Less Plastic

Plastic is such a big problem for the world’s oceans, it’s accumulating into a disgusting mass of man-made junk in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Garbage Patch is big enough to qualify as the nation’s largest landfill. While recycling is an important step, the best thing you can do to help is simply use less plastic. Carry a reusable shopping bag and water bottle at all times, and choose products that come with less packaging.

2. Eat Ocean-Friendly Seafood

Many species are being overfished into extinction, so it’s important to be aware of how your eating habits impact the ocean and its interdependent marine populations. National Geographic has a Seafood Decision Guide that you can consult to make sustainable seafood choices. Oh yeah, and there’s an app for that, too. The free iPhone app Seafood Watch will help you out when you’re in the supermarket seafood aisle or looking over a menu at a restaurant.

3. Cut Your Carbon Footprint

Global warming is having a devastating effect on coral reefs and other marine life. The oceans are getting hotter and more acidic, leading to a domino effect for all of the species that live within them and depend on them for survival. What can you do about it? Support efforts to fight global warming, especially at the polls. But on a more personal note: cut your carbon footprint. If everyone reduced their contribution to global warming, it would make a big difference. Check out six apps that help you cut your carbon footprint.

4. Mind What You Flush

Whatever you pour down the drain or flush down the toilet could end up in the ocean. Never dispose of paints and other household chemicals at home, switch to non-toxic household cleaners and toiletries and avoid flushing anything other than human waste down the toilet. Triclosan, a chemical in antibacterial soaps, has been detected in dolphins, and the effect of pharmaceuticals on coastal ecosystems is still unknown. Follow FDA guidelines in disposing of unused medications.

5. Cut Chemicals & Contaminants in Your Yard

Even if you live far inland, the pesticides, fertilizers and other substances you use in your yard can have an effect on the ocean. These substances can seep into groundwater or be washed through storm drain systems, causing nutrient imbalances, toxic algal blooms, seaweed overgrowth and many more problems for marine environments. You don’t need these chemicals to have a beautiful yard – the Nature Conservancy recommends planting a native garden, which requires less water and fertilizer than non-native plants, making your own compost to use as fertilizer and following Audubon Society guidelines for a ‘Healthy Yard.’

6. Choose Green Car Washes

It may seem like washing your car at home is more eco-friendly than taking it to a car wash, but that’s not necessarily the case. The runoff from your car goes straight into storm drains, where it’s typically swept off into ocean-bound waterways. Dirty water from washing your car not only contains harsh detergents from the products you use, but also gasoline, oil, exhaust fume resides and heavy metals. Federal law in the U.S. requires commercial car washes to drain this waste water into sewer systems instead, which is much safer, but some car washes go even further than that, filtering and re-using the water.

7. Support Ocean Conservation Groups

There are dozens of marine conservation groups in need of donations and volunteers to clean up pollution, carry out crucial research, protect threatened species and fight global warming, which is speeding up ocean acidification. Pick your favorite out of national and international organizations like Oceana, Greenpeace and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, or find a local group that helps marine ecosystems in your area.

8. Avoid Products That Put Endangered Marine Life at Risk

There’s no doubt that coral is beautiful, and it makes for stunning earrings and mantelpieces – but leave it on the ocean floor where it belongs. Don’t purchase goods made from threatened marine species, including real tortoiseshell accessories and anything made from marine animals or animal parts. Demand for these items leads to poaching.

9. Be Smart About Seaside Recreation

A day by the sea is incredibly relaxing, whether you’re lounging in the sun, boating or taking a dive to the ocean floor. But be sure that your visit doesn’t have a negative impact on the natural settings that you love. Look but don’t touch when snorkeling and scuba diving, avoid taking natural souvenirs home with you and be careful where you set your anchor in open water. Stay off fragile sand dunes, which are crucial for preventing erosion, and always dispose of your trash.

10. Clean Up the Beach

Integrate a little community service into your next trip to the beach by bringing an extra trash bag to pick up some of the litter that’s bound to be scattered in the sand. Or, go one step further and participate in organized beach clean-ups in your area. If you don’t live near the sea, you can still help. Because litter often travels a long way before it gets to the ocean, picking up some of the plastic bags, aluminum cans and other trash in parks and roadways near your home can make a big difference.

Photo: Dawn

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These 10 organizations work tirelessly to protect the world’s oceans and all of the life they contain from overfishing, global warming and other threats.

Global fisheries are on the verge of collapse, global warming is raising ocean temperatures, coral reefs are dying at an alarming rate and runoff from farms and neighborhoods is fouling the seas with fertilizers and other pollutants. For Ocean Week here at EcoSalon, we want to show our love of oceans and how we can’t live without them – we need serious action to protect them from these threats and many more, and we need it now. Thankfully, we have these 10 inspiring ocean conservation groups that are influencing public policy, drumming up public support, researching solutions, and even going out there and stopping illegal activities that harm wildlife.

Blue Ocean Institute

The Blue Ocean Institute doesn’t just work to preserve the world’s oceans and all of the biodiversity they contain, it also aims to inspire a love for the ocean in all of us. Engaging the public with science, art and literature to foster a deeper connection with nature, the Blue Ocean Institute provides an invaluable reminder of what we’re trying to save in the first place. Founder Dr. Carl Safina believes that focusing on the positives rather than the negatives is more likely to inspire change. “When people defend their fishing, their fishing gets worse; when they defend their fish, their fishing gets good.”

Oceana

The largest international organization focused solely on ocean conservation, Oceana focuses on a limited number of highly specific campaigns that can achieve measurable outcomes, like reducing turtle death from scallop fisheries and petitioning retailers to stop selling unsustainable marine animal products. In addition to accepting donations that help them achieve these goals, Oceana enlists a vast team of “e-activists” referred to as “Wavemakers” who send out letters and petitions in support of conservation initiatives.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

Not one to shy away from controversy, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) takes bold action in its fight to protect oceans and marine life. Starring on Animal Planet’s reality TV series Whale Wars, Sea Shepherd uses direct and sometimes violent means to stop whaling vessels from engaging in species-endangering whaling and fishing practices. Their methods may be controversial, but they work: Sea Shepherd has helped to decrease the number of whales killed each year, and they get lots of attention for the plight of these beautiful creatures.

Greenpeace

Known for a wide range of environmental activism, Greenpeace is among the most successful organizations working in the area of oceans, whales and seafood. Greenpeace has set three goals for the next three years: continuing to change seafood choices made at a wholesale level by supermarket retailers, convincing governments and the United Nations that marine reserves are critical to our oceans’ future, and ensuring that the Obama administration uses their diplomatic leverage to close the loopholes that enable commercial whaling.

Ocean Conservancy

Educating the public and advocating for policy changes are the core of Ocean Conservancy’s work to prevent activities that threaten oceanic and, by extension, human life. In addition to organizing an annual international ocean clean-up, Ocean Conservancy has partnered with a popular multi-platform campaign called One World, One Ocean that aims to inspire millions of people worldwide to join the movement to restore and protect the world’s oceans. Its four top priorities include restoring sustainable American fisheries, protecting wildlife from human impacts, conserving the world’s most beautiful oceanic spots and reforming government for better ocean stewardship.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

This non-profit research and higher education facility is dedicated to marine science, with five departments focusing on ocean life, coastal oceans, climate change and deep ocean exploration. Because it’s training and employing some of the world’s top marine researchers and scientists, Woods Hole is considered one of the most influential ocean conservation organizations in the world. These people are on the forefront of the battle to protect the oceans, with three large research vessels carrying scientists out into the field to study erosion, water circulation, pollution and other events that impact marine life.

Blue Frontier Campaign

Made up almost entirely of individual citizen activists, the Blue Frontier Campaign is all about grassroots (which it refers to, naturally, as “seaweed”) actions from a local level up to an international level. Bringing together a wide variety of voices, Blue Frontier organized a four-day Blue Vision summit in 2009, drawing hundreds of leaders in ocean conservation to Washington, D.C. to develop strategies for protecting oceans. It also organizes regional meetings, produces public education campaigns and has published books including 50 Ways to Save the Ocean and The Ocean and Coastal Conservation Guide.

Scripps Institute of Oceanography

UC San Diego’s Scripps Institute of Oceanography is one of the oldest, largest and most influential centers for oceanic research, education and public services in the world. Located in La Jolla, California, Scripps is another group on the front lines of the battle to protect the oceans, training and deploying highly educated scientists to study biological, physical, chemical, geological and geophysical aspects of the ocean. Scripps heads up the world’s largest privately-funded network for observing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and also runs the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation (CMBC).

Marine Fish Conservation Network

The largest national organization dedicated to promoting the long-term sustainability of marine fish, this conservation network is a coalition of hundreds of individual local and national conservation, fishing and scientific organizations. Coming together to share in this common goal, the organizations work to advance national policies that promote marine biodiversity. By adding the voices of fisheries and fishermen across the United States to the sustainability discussion, the Marine Fish Conservation Network aims to come up with workable goals that can end overfishing and prevent the decimation of threatened species.

Deep Sea Conservation Coalition

The Deep Sea Conservation Coalition is not just one organization, but dozens. This alliance of over 70 smaller international organizations bands together to influence legislation that can protect and preserve the oceans, like calling on the United Nations General Assembly to place a moratorium on trawling the bottom of the high seas to protect vulnerable species and ecosystems. In just a short period of time, they have already convinced a number of nations to commit to protecting the deep seas from the harmful impact of fishing. The organizations that are a part of the coalition include Greenpeace, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Oceana.

Photo: josh-n

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World Oceans Day is today and we celebrate that which sustains us.

Welcome to World Oceans Day 2011. Since 2008, the United Nations has recognized June 8th as a day to celebrate, learn about, and take action on behalf of the oceans that cover three quarters of our planet and sustain all life on Earth – what author Julia Whitty calls our Deep Blue Home.

Last year at this time, oil was still spewing into the Gulf of Mexico from the mangled riser pipe of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig. All told, more than 4 million barrels of oil were spilled, and nearly 800,000 gallons of the chemical dispersant Correxit were injected deep into the Gulf. On the one-year anniversary of the explosion that killed eleven men and started what President Obama called “the greatest environmental disaster of its kind,” oil spill researcher Chris Reddy told me it was still too soon to know how much oil and dispersant remains in the Gulf and what the long-term ecological impacts will be.

This year, as we recognize World Oceans Day, we wait for news of another environmental disaster – the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan. Yesterday, Japan’s nuclear agency doubled their estimate of how much radioactive material has been released from the Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant that was crippled by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. In the weeks immediately following the disaster, levels of radioactivity in surrounding ocean waters skyrocketed. Now Bloomberg has reported that radioactive water may once again begin flowing into the ocean as it overflows service trenches. The announcement adds to the urgency of a research expedition now underway to map the location, type, and levels of radioactive contamination in the Pacific Ocean.

And yet, despite their devastating effects, these dramatic environmental disasters are not the greatest threats to our ocean.

Studies released in the past year have trumpeted dire news: nearly 60% of the world’s coral reefs are at risk of being lost in the next three decades, 85% of natural oyster reefs have already been lost, and it’s estimated that large fish have declined by two-thirds in the past century. These declines are largely the result of five human-driven processes that slowly but surely chip away at ocean ecosystems.

1. Climate Change: The ocean has absorbed more than 90% of the excess heat trapped by rising levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Rising water temperatures are driving commercially important fish species offshore and toward the poles in search of cooler climes – bad news for fishermen and seafood lovers alike. Warmer water also holds less oxygen, and that spells trouble for marine animals who – like us – breathe oxygen. Scientists recently warned that low-oxygen ‘dead zones’ are expanding, and that we could be in for a repeat of the mass extinctions triggered by prehistoric warming events.

 

Carbon dioxide emissions pose a double threat to the ocean, raising water temperatures and increasing acidity.

2. Ocean Acidification: Carbon dioxide doesn’t just build up in the atmosphere; about a third of it gets absorbed by the ocean. The inevitable chemical result is the production of carbonic acid that, in sufficient quantities, disrupts the acid-base balance of the ocean (thus, the term ‘acidification’). That, in turn, throws off a whole host of other chemical processes. Corals and shellfish can’t get the calcium carbonate they need for their skeletons and shells. And the microscopic marine plants upon which the entire ocean food chain depends may not be able to get the nutrients they need to grow. Scientists have generally considered ocean acidification to be a problem of the future, but a study published last fall forced a revision of that thinking by demonstrating that scallops and quahogs are already feeling the burn.

3. Pollution: Plastic, nutrients, pesticides, hormones, oil. The list of things we dump into the oceans is disconcertingly long. Last summer, a team of researchers from Woods Hole, MA, confirmed what many had long suspected – that plastic debris is accumulating in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, just as we’ve known for decades that it does in the Pacific. Another recent study confirmed that the vast majority of plastic releases estrogenic chemicals when soaked in saltwater and exposed to sunlight.

But not all pollutants are chemicals. Some experts include ‘biological pollution’, or invasive species – plants and animals that are introduced by human activities, like global shipping, into areas they have never been before. These species often out-compete or outright kill native species. This year, we learned that rising water temperatures may be making a bad situation worse, giving invasive species a competitive edge over their native counterparts.

4. Overfishing: Ecosystems are like jigsaw puzzles: remove one piece and you can’t complete the puzzle. Remove several, and the puzzle may not hold together or form a recognizable image. In this way, overfishing and its cousin, by-catch, wreak havoc on ocean ecosystems. Of course, collapsed fisheries take a human toll as well, causing economic hardship and threatening food supplies.

Counting fish is no easy matter, and there is always controversy about the status of fish populations. This year was no different. A high-profile presentation at a high-profile scientific conference set off a renewed debate, with one side claiming that large, predatory fish could be virtually extinct by 2050 and the other arguing that the reductions in large fish are exactly what would be expected of well-managed fisheries. But scientists on both sides of the overfishing debate have agreed that more than half of fish populations worldwide need rebuilding.

Still, there’s some good news on the overfishing front today. Federal officials are optimistic that the 2010 fishing season may go down in history as the year U.S. fisheries set – and stayed within – science-based, sustainable fishing limits. The U.S. is just one country, but this is evidence that we have the tools necessary to end overfishing. The challenge is putting them to work in the places – like Asia – that need them most.

5. Ignorance: Less than 10% of the ocean has been explored by humans. We have better maps of Mars than the seafloor, and some oceanographers have compared their research to shining a flashlight into an immense, dark cavern. Last fall, scientists announced the completion of the Census of Marine Life – a decade-long, global effort to shine a light on the amazing diversity of life that inhabits the ocean. The efforts of more than 2,000 scientists raised the total number of known marine species to almost a quarter of a million. Still, they estimate that’s less than a quarter of what’s out there; the vast majority of ocean life remains unknown to science. That means that, even for the ocean scientists who know the most, the ocean is largely a big blue bag of mysteries. Susan Avery – Director of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution – says that the greatest threat facing the ocean is our limited ability to see what’s beneath the surface, to truly grasp our impact on the vast expanses of ocean.

Lest you think this doom and gloom doesn’t affect you, let me remind you of a few key facts.

It is no exaggeration to say that the ocean sustains all life on Earth. To quote W.H. Auden: “Thousands have lived without love, not one without water.” The oceans contain 97% of all water on the planet and drives the global water cycle. We’d also be hard-pressed to live without air, and microscopic marine plants produce more than half the oxygen we breathe.

Almost half of the world’s species live in the ocean. That rich biodiversity is not only an ecological wonder, it’s a treasure trove of chemicals that show up in everything from ice cream to toothpaste, and could hold a cure for cancer.

And in the age of globalization, when what you’re wearing, eating, or driving is more likely to be made in China than made in the U.S.A., it’s worth remembering that more than 90% of international trading is conducted via the ocean.

Just as we all benefit from the ocean, we all contribute to the threats facing the ocean, and we can all do something to help.

The greatest threats facing the ocean start in our homes and workplaces, whether we’re five minutes or 500 miles from the beach. While beach clean-ups are a tried and true way to repair some of the damage we inflict, they’re far from the only way.

• Learn more about what the ocean does for us, and what we’re doing to it.

• Tell others what you’re learning.
• Eat fish responsibly: Buy local, if possible, and know how the fish you eat was caught. Look for the Marine Stewardship Council label or check with a consumer guide, like Seafood Watch or the Smart Seafood Guide. None of the guides or labels are perfect, but they’re better than nothing.
• Ditch disposable plastic: We may only use it once, but it stays in the ocean forever. Plastic shopping bags and water bottles are particularly egregious offenders. Invest in a reusable water bottle and some canvas shopping bags.
• Reduce your carbon footprint: Don’t know where to start? Try an online carbon footprint calculator or a home energy audit to pinpoint areas where you can reduce.

This story was originally published in Climatide.

Image: Nasa Goddard Photo, Mike Baird, rkraemer, laszlo photo

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