Science Study Maps Human Impacts on Oceans

A new atlas of the world's oceans reveals that human activities have strongly impacted approximately 40 percent of the area and have left only about four percent relatively pristine. The most highly affected regions include the eastern Caribbean, the North Sea, and Japanese waters, and the least affected ones are around the poles, according to the new results.

The high-resolution, global map, which is the first of its kind, was released today at the AAAS Annual Meeting, and it will appear in the 15 February 2008 issue of the journal Science.

For more details, read the full story in the AAAS news blog.

14 February 2008