Marine ecosystems to face unprecedented catastrophe: report
A new summary report by marine experts released this week states that climate change and other man-made factors will bring about colossal levels of extinction in the world’s oceans. The catastrophe is forecast to be "unprecedented in human history," FIS reports."The speed of change, particularly related to climate change is so great there simply isn't time for marine life to adapt to these new conditions," said Alex Rogers, a professor of conservation biology at the University of Oxford.
In the past, he said, mass extinctions have been tied to considerable changes in the oceans’ carbon systems.
"That's what we're bringing about through our own actions today," he highlighted, reports ABC News.
Rogers and an international team of 26 other researchers met earlier this year for a three-day workshop in England to study ocean stressors. The full report will soon be published.
Ocean acidification, rising water temperatures and overfishing are all exacerbating the rapid decline of species such as reef-forming coral.
Sharks and other species may be next, said Rogers, lead author of the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) report.
