Oceans degrading more rapidly than anticipated

Styrofoam cups floating in pond

What's really big news? The headline in today's Star Tribune was regarding the start of the trail of young man who killed a couple of people.  If it bleeds it leads. If you dig more deeply, a column on page A6, contains an article "Scientist warn that oceans are on brink".  The article is brief enough that I've copied it below.

While sensational local news tends to grab our attention, let's not take our eyes of the larger, more global picture.  All of us depend upon the health of the world's oceans, even those of us that live over a thousand miles away from the nearest ocean.  Everything in nature is linked together in the web of life.  The way that I treat my yard impacts the run off into the nearby pond, then stream, then river, and finally the ocean.  All the stuff that I buy often involves considerable production costs, not the least of which is paid by the environment.  Every time I drive my car it has a huge environmental impact. It still rings true, think globally and act locally.  Let's be the change that we want to see in the world.

Cleaning up around pond

WORLDWIDE

Scientists warn that oceans are on brink

The world's oceans are degenerating far faster than predicted and marine life is facing extinction due to a range of human impacts -- from overfishing to climate change -- a report compiled by international scientists warned. The cumulative effect of "severe individual stresses," ranging from climate warming and sea-water acidification to widespread chemical pollution and overfishing, would threaten the marine environment with a catastrophe "unprecedented in human history." The conclusions were published by a panel of international scientists who reviewed recent research at a workshop at Oxford University in Britain. They will be presented to the United Nations this week.