For a long, long time, the world’s oceans have seemed just too vast to be seriously affected by the hand of humankind. The endless rolling waves, the briny depths, the creatures beyond number — all these seemed to dwarf our footprints on the beach and ships at sea.
No more. A new global mapping of human impact on the world’s oceans brings home just how thoroughly our fishing and trawling and dumping and warming have reshaped the oceans. It’s an astonishing picture.
This hour, On Point: Mile by mile, mapping the human impact on the deep blue sea.
-Tom Ashbrook
Guests:
Andrew Revkin, environment reporter for The New York Times and author of “The North Pole Was Here: Puzzles and Perils at the Top of the World.”
Dr. Benjamin Halpern, marine biologist at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and lead author of “A Global Map of Human Impact on Marine Ecosystems,” published last month in the journal Science.
Kevin Speer, oceanographer aboard the Roger Revelle in the Antarctic, focusing on ocean currents, temperature and salinity.
Tim Battista, oceanographer aboard the Nancy Foster off the coast of Puerto Rico, he and his team of researchers are mapping the damage done to coral reefs.
David Ho, researcher aboard the Ronald H. Brown in the Antarctic, studying how greenhouse gasses move between the atmosphere and ocean.
Tags: environment, oceans, science
