"In a potential milestone for ocean management, a team of collaborators has produced the first Ocean Health Index, a tool for appraising the state of the world’s oceans. The index takes into account the major factors that influence the quality of regional marine ecosystems like fisheries, biodiversity, tourism and carbon storage and then assigns a score from zero to 100 for each place."
"Globally, the oceans received an ocean health score of 60. The lowest score was 36 (Sierra Leone’s waters) and the highest was 86 (waters surrounding uninhabited Jarvis Island, near Hawaii).
Dozens of scientists, policymakers and conservationists in the United States and Canada came together over the last two years to create the index, which is described in detail in a paper published online in the journal Nature. Their goal was to find a way to compare different parts of the ocean that are heavily used by humans and determine whether this activity is sustainable or in need of better management."
Kelly Slivka reports for the New York Times' Green blog August 15, 2012.
SEE ALSO:
"New Ocean Health Index Measures the Global State of the Seas" (National Geographic)
"Tiny Pacific Island Tops Healthy Ocean Index" (Australian)
"Seas Score a Meagre Six Out of 10 in New Marine Health Index" (Independent)
