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Title: Anticipating the Future of the World's Ocean
Oceans play critical roles in the lives, economies, cultures, and nutrition of people globally, yet face increasing pressures from human activities that put those benefits at risk. To anticipate the future of the world's ocean, we review the many human activities that impose pressures on marine species and ecosystems, evaluating their impacts on marine life, the degree of scientific uncertainty in those assessments, and the expected trajectory over the next few decades. We highlight that fundamental research should prioritize areas of high potential impact and greater uncertainty about ecosystem vulnerability, such as emerging fisheries, organic chemical pollution, seabed mining, and the interactions of cumulative pressures, and deprioritize research on areas that demonstrate little impact or are well understood, such as plastic pollution and ship strikes to marine fauna. There remains hope for a productive and sustainable future ocean, but the window of opportunity for action is closing.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2019902
PAR ID:
10386437
Author(s) / Creator(s):
;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Annual Review of Environment and Resources
Volume:
47
Issue:
1
ISSN:
1543-5938
Page Range / eLocation ID:
291 to 315
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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