Twenty top concerns of marine scientists

Early in 2001 marine experts of United Nations organizations listed 20 issues of global concern regarding deterioration of the marine environment:

1. eutrophication and associated anoxia;
2. harmful algal blooms;
3. the effects of classical contaminants (sewage, metals, persistent organic substances, petroleum hydrocarbons, radionuclides);
4. the effects of deforestation;
5. the effects of increased or decreased mobilization of sediments;
6. the demise of coral reefs;
7. the loss of wetlands;
8. declines in mangroves;
9. habitat destruction;
10. the transfer of harmful species into coastal areas;
11. climate change;
12. sea-level rise;
13. inundation as a consequence of physical alteration;
14. increased risks to human health;
15. reduced biodiversity;
16. endocrine-disrupting chemicals;
17. overfishing;
18. destructive fishing practices;
19. the effects of the exploitation of coastal mineral resources, particularly sand and gravel; and
20. litter.

-- GESAMP71:09

The UN Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection (GESAMP) emphasize: "They are not presented in any implied order of severity or importance.[...] Some of these can be easily assigned to the 'existing damage' or 'threat' categories without much ado. Others contain elements of both. For example, climate change represents a threat; there is, as yet, no evidence of associated damage having occurred. The related topic of 'sea-level rise', on the other hand, clearly contains elements [of] both." ( GESAMP71:09)

GESAMP (IMO/FAO/UNESCO-IOC/WMO/WHO/IAEA/ UN/UNEP Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection). 2001. Protecting the oceans from land-based activities - Land-based sources and activities affecting the quality and uses of the marine, coastal and associated freshwater environment. Rep. Stud. GESAMP No. 71, 162 pp. ISBN 82-7701-011-7.