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26

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.