WORLD’S OCEANS IN ‘SHOCKING’ DECLINE

CAN WORLD’S OCEANS BECOME EXTINCT?
MASS EXTINCTION THREAT IN OCEANS

http://www.bbc.co.uk - In a new report, an expert panel of scientists warn that ocean life is “at high risk of entering a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history”.  They conclude that issues such as over-fishing, pollution and climate change are acting together in ways that have not previously been recognised.  The impacts, they say, are already affecting humanity.  
The panel was convened by the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), and brought together experts from different disciplines, including coral reef ecologists, toxicologists, and fisheries scientists.  

“The findings are shocking,” said Alex Rogers, IPSO’s scientific director at Oxford University.  “As we considered the cumulative effect of what humankind does to the oceans, the implications became far worse than we had individually realized”.

The team noted there are alarming ways in which different issues act synergistically to increase threats to marine life.  Some pollutants, for example, stick to the surfaces of tiny plastic particles that are now found in the ocean bed.  
This increases the amounts of these pollutants that are consumed by bottom-feeding fish.  Plastic particles also assist the transport of algae from place to place, increasing the occurrence of toxic algal blooms - which are also caused by the influx of nutrient-rich pollution from agricultural land.  In a wider sense, ocean acidification, warming, local pollution and overfishing are acting together to increase the threat to coral reefs - so much so that three-quarters of the world’s reefs are at risk of severe decline.

The oceans are in a worse state than previously suspected, according to an expert panel of scientists.  A new report cautions that the world’s oceans are undergoing changes that threaten to wipe out marine species at a far faster rate than earlier feared.  Some species are already fished way beyond their limits - and may also be affected by other threats.  “The challenges are vast; but unlike previous generations, we know what now needs to happen,” says Dan Laffoley from IUCN.  In the long run, greenhouse gas emissions must be cut to conserve ocean life, the report concludes.  

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?  

It’s time that humanity revert to and value a simpler, healthier, and more natural way of life. Only in this way may we attain true health, harmony, and prosperity. ... Nature is one of the manifestations of God; if we mistreat the environment, if we live irresponsibly, in any moment we will be sucked into an abyss. God is in each tree, each plant. The waters of the Earth are the veins of the Lord.  We should proceed with absolute compassion and responsibility, because by not taking care of other living beings, our present planet will become a complete desert.  Polluted waters cause the leukemia of the ecosystem. Mother Earth heals you, she allows you to build houses, sustains you, gives you drinkable water; that is our dear Mother Earth. If you cannot see divinity in the mud, in Mother Earth, it would be very astonishing to see it in anything.

House of Wisdom :  “Eco Conscience - Recommendations”
http://www.houseofwisdom.org/english/advices_eco_conscience.htm
http://www.houseofwisdom.org/english/index.html
http://www.houseofwisdom.org/