HOME          CATEGORIES          OUR TAKE

An Index for Ocean Health

The Ocean Health Index will be published in six months.  Funded by a $2.5 million grant from the Wrigley Company Foundation in February 2008, a multidisciplinary team of almost 50 researchers from Conservation International, the National Geographic Society and the New England Aquarium is working hard to complete analyses of the health of the world’s oceans and the implications for human well-being.  The scientists are seeking to measure, country by country, the ability of marine ecosystems to thrive and to support human livelihoods.  The index boils down 10 broad indicators, each composed of a set of metrics, into a single number for each country.  The index will be unique in its global scale and on its attention to the link between oceans and people.  While the data vary both in quality and quantity, the index should identify critical gaps for researchers to address in future editions.  This could be critical, as many scientists believe that humans risk causing a global mass marine extinction event, the sixth in 600 million years.  GR

Comment on this article

ClimateYou moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (New York time) and can only accept comments written in English.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

SHARE THIS ARTICLE


More Posts Like This

CITY TECH BLOG

Understanding the Urgency of Climate Change By City Tech Blogger Michalis Photiou

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges humanity is currently facing. The consequences of climate changes have already begun to affect every aspect of our lives. In this essay, we will explore two of the many impacts of climate change. First, one of the most significant impact

CITY TECH BLOG

My Take on Climate Change By City Tech Blogger Daniel Rojas

When I think about climate change, I think of the things that we humans have done to our beautiful planet. Past generations have contributed to many of the problems we have today. We are exploiting all our natural resources to use them in the present like we did

Take action in the fight against climate change