A report released on Monday by the International Programme on the State of the Oceans (IPSO), states that our oceans are exhibiting three factors that show a disturbance in the global carbon cycle that was characteristic of the five previous mass extinctions; those factors are low or absent oxygen in the water (hypoxia and anoxia, respectively), acidification, and warming temperatures. Perhaps the most distressing reference in the report is that he speeds with which negative changes are taking effect in our oceans are at or near the "worst-case" scenario of the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) and other predictions. Many of us remember the 2005 documentary, Inconvenient Truth, as Al Gore laid out what many thought was doomsday sensationalism, or, at best, a terrifying warning to everyone of what could happen if we didn't take quick, decisive action. Six years later it seems that those predictions are coming true, and even faster than originally outlined.

     "The results are shocking," said Director of IPSO, Dr. Alex Rogers. According to the report the oceans are degrading much faster than predicted. "“This is a very serious situation demanding unequivocal action at every level. We are looking at consequences for humankind that will impact in our lifetime, and worse, our children’s and generations beyond that," explains Rogers. One of the reasons that this information has not come to light earlier is that this is the first interdisciplinary international workshop of the combined effects of pollution, climate change, acidification, over-fishing, and hypoxia (low oxygen) on our oceans. 

     The report outlines a number of negatively "synergistic" elements that, when combined, are negatively impacting our oceans at a much faster rate than previously thought. One of those issues is the melting of the Antarctic glaciers and the Greenland icesheet, which not only raises sea level but releases trapped methane, contributing to climatic warming and desalinizes major currents within the ocean, killing surrounding marine life by affecting the oxygen levels in the water. Oxygen levels are a major concern of the IPSO report. Agricultural runoff, record amounts of sediment, and physical disturbances (like oil spills) and invasive species have lead to historicallly low oxygen levels in the ocean.

     In fact, in a seperate report released by federal and university scientists, this year will be the largest dead zone, or area of the ocean devoid of oxygen, in recorded history in the Gulf of Mexico. This is because of the high nutrient content of runoff from the MIssissippi River into the Gulf, which creates an algae bloom. The algae reproduce in massive quanitities and use up all of the oxygen in the water, creating a dead zone. Other marine life must escape the dead zone or suffocate, but with oceanographers predicting it to be an 8,500 to 9.400 square mile area, a massive die-off is likely.

     Further exacerbating oxygen levels is the constant pollution of our oceans by everything from plastics blown into the ocean to toxic heavy metals present in industrial runoff and chemical spills. Another deadly synergy discussed within the report is the way in which the acidity in the oceans often reacts with metals and other pollutants to increase their toxicity, which further increases the acidity. By 2050, the report concludes, acidity and warming will destroy all coral reefs on earth.

     The IPSO report is simply another reminder of the devastating impact that 7 billion human beings on the planet are having on our largest ecosystem; from pollutants and warming to over-fishing and habitat destruction, we are drastically diminishing the oceans resilience to these problems. Imagine a world in which there is very little sea-life to speak of; in which economies around the globe (including our own coastal cities) can no longer depend on the oceans for their livlihood, to say nothing of those coasts being dramatically changed by rising sea levels. According to IPSO and the other agencies within this report, we may not need to imagine it much longer. The reality, it seems, is that within a generation we will go from business as usual to a dramatically different way of life if governments, businesses, and individuals do not take an immediate personal stake in our oceans.