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Watch crews protect New Zealand's coasts and marine environments on Coastwatch.
Our oceans are in trouble: acidification is intensifying, dead zones are growing, plastic garbage patches are killing marine life, overfishing is rampant—and the loss of the ocean's great mammals increases carbon emissions, exacerbating all the other probelms above.
Conservation International is calling on global leaders when they meet at the Convention on Biological Diversity to make ocean health a priority. (Seems especially appropriate to act now considering it's the International Year of Biodiversity.) And since they're asking for protection of a mere 15 percent of our oceans by 2020, it seems like there's really no excuse for world leaders to not take some action.
From the petition they are asking people to sign:
The sea covers nearly three quarters of our planet. And yet today, less than 1 percent of the ocean is protected, compared with more than 12 percent of land...
Ninety percent of top predators that keep our oceans healthy are gone, 52 percent of the ocean's fisheries are fully exploited, more than one-fifth of coral reefs have been destroyed and vast, pollution-caused "dead zones" dot the ocean floor.
To help, after signing the petition, there are 7 other things you can do without even leaving your house.
More on oceans:
Climate Change Causing Ocean Dead Zones to Grow
Today is World Oceans Day! 7 Actions You Can Take Without Leaving Home
Global Warming's Evil Twin: Ocean Acidification - A Present And Measurable Danger
