{"id":566,"date":"2018-08-15T11:08:46","date_gmt":"2018-08-15T11:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/?p=566"},"modified":"2026-03-26T11:41:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T11:41:21","slug":"vast-majority-of-worlds-oceans-damaged-by-humans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/2018\/08\/15\/vast-majority-of-worlds-oceans-damaged-by-humans\/","title":{"rendered":"Vast majority of world\u2019s oceans damaged by humans"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"et_pb_section_0 et_pb_section et_section_regular et_block_section\"><div class=\"et_pb_row_0 et_pb_row et_block_row\"><div class=\"et_pb_column_0 et_pb_column et_pb_column_4_4 et-last-child et_block_column et_pb_css_mix_blend_mode_passthrough\"><div class=\"et_pb_text_0 et_pb_text et_pb_bg_layout_light et_pb_module et_block_module\"><div class=\"et_pb_text_inner\"><p>Just 13% of the world\u2019s oceans have not been severely impacted by humans, with these areas mostly located at the poles and around remote Pacific island nations.<\/p>\n<p>That is according to a new study published in <em>Current Biology<\/em> and quoted by Australia's Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which shows that industrial fishing, shipping and pollution has left \u2018pristine\u2019 marine areas increasingly rare.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers also found that most remaining areas devoid of intense human impacts are unprotected, and are likely to disappear within 50 years without multilateral natural world's agreements.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarine areas that can be considered \u2018pristine\u2019 are becoming increasingly rare, as fishing and shipping fleets expand their reach, and sediment runoff smothers many coastal areas\u201d said study lead author, Kendall Jones. \u201cImprovements in shipping technology mean that even the most remote wilderness areas may come under threat in the future, including once ice-covered places that are now accessible because of climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The study involved assessing 19 key indicators that impact oceans, including commercial shipping, sediment runoff and several types of fishing, to identify Earth\u2019s remaining marine wilderness.<\/p>\n<p>It was found that very little remains in coastal ecosystems, such as coral reefs, because human activities are often concentrated near land.<\/p>\n<p>WCS director, professor James Watson, said: \u201cMarine wilderness areas are home to unparalleled levels of life \u2013 holding massive abundances of species and high genetic diversity, giving them resilience to threats like climate breakdown. These areas are declining catastrophically.\"<\/p>\n<p>The researchers said the findings highlight an immediate need for new conservation polices that recognise and protect the unique values of marine wilderness, and praised the UN for taking the initiative.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLate last year the UN began developing a legally binding high seas conservation treaty \u2013 essentially a Paris Agreement for the ocean,\u201d Jones said. \u201cThis agreement would have the power to protection large areas of the high seas, and might be our best shot at saving some of Earth\u2019s last remaining marine wilderness.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"et_pb_text_1 et_pb_text et_pb_bg_layout_light et_pb_module et_block_module\"><div class=\"et_pb_text_inner\"><blockquote>\n<p>From:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/newsroom.wcs.org\/News-Releases\/articleType\/ArticleView\/articleId\/11476\/Study-Discovers-Just-13-Percent-of-Worlds-Oceans-are-Wilderness.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/newsroom.wcs.org\/News-Releases\/articleType\/ArticleView\/articleId\/11476\/Study-Discovers-Just-13-Percent-of-Worlds-Oceans-are-Wilderness.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[54,23,15,47,16],"class_list":["post-566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environmental-sustainability","tag-fishing","tag-ocean","tag-plastic-ocean","tag-protect","tag-save-our-seas","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13712,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566\/revisions\/13712"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gecco.org.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}