The World’s Oceans Are Hurtling Toward Breaking Point

Climate change, pollution, and fishing are pushing oceans closer to their limits at an unprecedented rate. The pressure of that human impact is expected to double by 2050, according to a new study.

For life on Earth, the oceans are essential. Not only do they supply us with food and resources, they also play a big role in maintaining a stable climate: between one-quarter to one-third of all CO₂ emitted by humans, which would otherwise stay in the atmosphere to further intensify climate change, is captured and stored by the sea.

But the oceans are in trouble. Already facing an onslaught of human pressures—including overfishing, pollution, rising temperatures, and acidification—the world’s seas could see the burden placed on them double over the next couple of decades. This would have huge negative consequences for biodiversity as well as for humans around the world.

An international team, led ...