AN IMMINENT TIPPING POINT

Ocean ecosystems are teetering wildly out of balance.

Humanity has critically compromised the oceans’ ability to support us,¹²³ act as ecological and climate regulator — and heal themselves.⁴⁵

One indicator is the number of ocean ‘dead zones,’ which has doubled every decade since the 1960s.⁶ Dead zones in coastal areas are suffocating marine life, threatening food security,⁷ negatively impacting human health⁸⁹ and livelihoods.¹⁰ And the dead zones in the open ocean have expanded by millions of square kilometres since the 1950s¹¹ and are now inhibiting the oceans’ ability to regulate the climate.¹²

Marine biodiversity, a leading indicator of an ocean’s ability to heal itself,¹³¹⁴ is collapsing.¹⁵¹⁶¹⁷¹⁸¹⁹ In parts of the Atlantic, phytoplankton biodiversity that plays a key role in the productivity of both marine and terrestrial food webs²⁰ has collapsed by up to 40%.²¹²²

The ongoing barrage of ‘forever chemicals’ will keep dealing punishing blows to ecosystems.

Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), the ‘forever chemicals’ found in a range of everyday products such as food packaging, clothing and cosmetics, are already widespread in aquatic ecosystems.²³ And since 1990, over 110 million potential new CECs have been identified.²⁴

As CECs make their way through the marine food web to humans, their levels can increase by several orders of magnitude.²⁵ They’ve been found to contribute to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in humans; testicular and kidney cancer, liver damage, and thyroid disease.²⁶²⁷²⁸²⁹ They impact sperm count and quality³⁰ and contribute to reproductive³¹ and neurological disorders.³²

Research indicates that the same microplastics (a form of CEC) now ubiquitous in human blood³³ are also altering the dynamics of the plankton propping up the entire marine food web.³⁴ Due to the interconnected and emergent nature of natural ecosystems, this could readily scale into a global pattern with catastrophic implications for all life.³⁵³⁶³⁷³⁸

Our plan is to shine a light on the biogeochemical state of ocean ecosystems. Drive transparency. And accountability.

FIND OUT HOW

Citations

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