Only 13 percent. The world’s oceans are still pristine areas of

The area of the ocean that remains untouched by humans is small and, on top of that, shrinking at a very fast rate. According to scientists, only 13 percent. The world’s oceans can now be considered virgin areas.

Global shipping, fishing and pollution, ktore affecting the morz and oceanow, have taken a toll on aquatic ecosystems, including even the most remote areas of the.

An exhaustive analysis of human impact on the marine world was published on „Current Biology”. The study was conducted by a team ofoł scientistsofrom the University of Queensland.

The study evaluated each marine area according to the intensity, number and cumulative impact of human impacts, building a map of the ocean and the status of each geographic location. To make the area mohead to be classified in the study as „virgin”, had to be "mostly free of human interferenceocensure".

And such areas are essential – emphasize the authors of the analysis. They are the last refuge of bioroThe diversity and the last places on Earth where theorich are still inhabited by large marine predators such as sharks. But they too are threatened by human activity.

Researchers from the University of Queensland’s Department of Biological Sciences, along with colleagues from other universities, identified marine areas in which theorych human impact is almost invisible. Researchers took into account 19 of the most stressful factorsow, including maritime trade and commercial transport, fishing or pollution morz and oceanow.

– Marine areas thatore can be considered pristine, are becoming rarer and rarer as fishing fleets and shipping as a whole expand their reach into almost all of the world’s oceans, and sediment runoffsow from land impacts on many areasoin coastal – said wsporoutor study by Kendall Jones of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

– Developoj marine technologies means that even the most remote wilderness areas could become threatened in the future, including ice-covered sites thatore currently accessible due to climate change – added Jones.

For the least „pristine” researchers have found coastal sites, such as coral reefs. Where the impact of human activity on the ecosystem of the. Areas untouched by humanity are those in the Arctic and Antarctic or near remote Pacific islands such as French Polynesia.

GloThe paper’s lead author Professor James Watson stresses that the analysis points to the urgent need to protect these unique areas of theoin marine wildlife. – These wilderness areas are home to an unprecedented roThe diversity of life, characterized by a great abundance of speciesow and a large rogenetic diversity, which ensures their resilience to threats such as climate change – explained the professor.

– These areas are disappearing at a rapid pace and their protection must become the subject of multilateral environmental agreements between countries. If this does not happen, they will most likely disappear within 50 years – emphasized Watson.

Conservation of marine wildlife requires roalso regulations on the high seas. – At the end of last year, the National Organizationoin the United States has begun to develop a legally binding treaty on the protection of the sea, which is essentially the Paris Agreement on the ocean. This agreement would be able to protect large areas on the high seas and could be our best effort to save someorych of the last remaining wild areas at seaoin marine – Jones pointed out.

Sourceobackground: University of Queensland, Photo. CC BY-SA 4.0/ Brocken Inaglory/ Wikimedia Commons