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THREATS TO THE MARINE
ENVIRONMENT
Each of the big five stressors (not in order of magnitude), 1)
Climate change
; 2)
Pollution
(mainly coastal), 3)
Fragmenta-
tion and habitat loss
(from e.g. dredging/trawling, use of
explosives in fishing on coral reefs etc.), 4)
Invasive species
infestations
, and 5)
Over-harvest from fisheries
may individu-
ally or combined result in severe impacts on the biological
production of the worlds oceans and the services they provide
to billions of people today. If climate change accelerates, the
impacts on marine life from the other stressors will become
severely exacerbated and the ability of ecosystems to recover
will be impaired.
Climate
change
Frag-
mentation
and habitat
loss
Over-
harvesting
from
fisheries
Pollution
(mainly
coastal)
Invasive
species
Figure 8. Primary threats to the Worlds oceans include the ‘Big
Five’ stressors.