Oceans

ISSUES

Oceans: Approaching the Point of No Return

The oceans and seas of the world, which cover 71% of the earth’s surface, still remain the least known territories. Only 10% of deep ocean cartography has been indexed and to date, only 2% of the ocean floor has been explored. According to scientific estimations, these ecosystems provide a habitat for 90% of the biomass and 80% of the biodiversity in the world – of which, as yet only 5% are known (274 000 marine species).
In addition to their ecological importance, oceans feed 3.5 billion human beings. The fishing and aquaculture industries employ 35 million people in the world, and the produce of the sea makes up at least half of mineral provisions and animal proteins for Africa and South Asia. Marine territories also provide support and resources for human activities: transport, tourism, minerals (bromine, magnesium etc.) and energy (gas, petrol, oil, tides, currents, etc). 30% of petrol production in the world is extracted fr...

NEWS

Marine reserves boost fish: Australian study

Scientists find new sensory organ in whales

Costa Rica assures fair trial for anti-whaling crusader

Univers GoodPlanet par Netvibes

DEBATES

A giant step for protecting ocean life

Alistair Gammell

On the first of April, the UK Government took a decision to declare the islands, coral reefs and surrounding seas of the Chagos...

CITES Summit, Doha: What Went Wrong?

The 175 nation UN Convention on International Trade and...

The Nitrogen Fix: Breaking a Costly Addiction

Over the last century, the intensive use of chemical...

FOCUS

The revenge of the mangroves

People have long perceived mangroves as malodorous swamps without any utility or value. Often infested with mosquitoes, with the particularity of being flooded or prone to flooding by the sea and inland waters, these forests found along the coasts of tropical regions...

VIDEOS

21/05/2012	With West African fish stocks under increasing pressure from foreign...	31/01/2012	A major investigation by the Ecologist reveals a host of unreported...
17/10/2011	KESEN-NUMA CITY, JAPAN - It's 5am on the the north eastern tip of Japan's...	22/08/2011	Our seas are in peril: more than 70% of Europe's fish stocks are...

GREEN TIPS

The survival of Tuvalu

Under the impetus of Liliane Le Gallic and her program « Small is Beautiful», two biogas installations, a...

INDICATORS

Biocapacity
National biodiversity index
Threatened ecosystems
Protected areas

CHECK OUT THE STATE OF THE WORLD ON OUR 3D GLOBE