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Only 13% of the world's oceans can continue to be considered wild and this small fraction could be reduced to 50 years due to an increase in shipping, pollution and overfishing, according to a scientific study .
An international team of researchers analyzed the human impact on marine habitat, when runoff and ocean freight increased.
Scientists led by Kendall Jones, of the University of Queensland, mapped virgin undersea areas and ecosystems "essentially free of human disturbance."
According to their study published in the journal Current Biology, most of these wild areas are found in the Arctic and Antarctic oceans as well as in the most remote islands of the Pacific. Coastal areas close to human activity are those where marine life is less flourishing.
"Marine areas that can be considered intact are becoming increasingly scarce while the merchant and fishing fleets are expanding their field of action to almost" The improvement of shipping technology means that the remotest and wildest areas could be threatened in the future, including the world's oceans, and sediment run-off engulfs many coastal areas, once covered by ice and now accessible due to climate change. "
According to the researchers, only 5% of the areas that are still wild are in protected areas. The rest is more vulnerable.
Scientists Call for Stronger International Cooperation to Protect Oceans, Fight Overfishing, Limit Underwater Mining and Reduce Pollutant Runoff
"The Three Maritime Regions Unprecedented levels, they include an abundance of species and genetic diversity, which gives them resistance against threats such as climate change, "said James Watson of the Australian Wildlife Conservation Society [19659009]. If they are not done, they will probably disappear in 50 years. "
The UN began work in 2016 on an international agreement that would regulate and protect high-risk areas Mar.
" This agreement would have the power to protect large areas on the high seas and could to be our best chance to protect the last fauna, "says Jones
AFP-NA
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