WP Editorial Board Has Moment Of Clarity: Oxygen Produced In Ocean Is Important!
EDIT
Even with the preservation of some habitat, though, people will need to do a better job of managing the exploitation of ocean resources that will continue. According to a 2012 analysis from California Environmental Associates, over 40?percent of fisheries have crashed or are overfished, producing economic losses in excess of $50?billion per year. Some 80 percent of the worlds catch is pulled in from unmonitored fisheries. Desperate fishermen, many in developing countries, are spending more time and traveling further to catch fewer fish. About two-thirds of unmonitored stocks could provide more fish on a sustainable basis with the right oversight.
The United States has gone a long way to fixing its regulation, deploying a system that gives fishermen ownership interests in the long-term health of their fisheries. This model could work in many other places, if those nations could enforce the rules on which the system depends. The United States can and should help other governments develop this capacity, though it ultimately will be up to foreign leaders to act in their nations best interest.
Then there is the issue of ocean acidification, driven by the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The ocean is absorbing huge amounts of the greenhouse gas, which will, over time, kill coral, shellfish and other creatures sensitive to a lower pH. The problem demands worldwide effort, led by the United States, to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide pumped into the air.
Efforts to curtail overfishing or reduce carbon emissions will not be easy, not least because both require many countries to work together. But the consequences of inaction are frightful.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/our-survival-depends-on-the-health-of-the-oceans/2014/06/22/2c0acd0a-f72e-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html