World oceans scored out of 100
19th August 2012
A new system that judges the health of the world's oceans has been created and the results have now been released
The list was devised by 30 scientists accounting for ten different measurements chosen to reflect both the needs of human and ecosystem sustainability. These include food provision, carbon storage, tourism value and biodiversity. The results are aggregated into a single score out of 100.
The waters around an uninhabited Pacific island called Jarvis Island have topped the list. The island is a protected territory of the United States and is a mere 4.5 square kilometres in size. Situated near Hawaii, its waters are almost untouched and this has helped it obtain its score of 86 out of 100. The global average is 60.
Sitting at the bottom of the list is the West African coastline. Ten of its 11 ocean areas have been deemed the least healthy in the world. Sierra Leone scored particularly poorly at only 36, just below Liberia, Ivory Coast, and DR Congo.
"Many West African, Middle Eastern and Central American countries score poorly compared to rich European countries," says the report, published in science journal Nature. This is attributed to their ability to fund marine protection systems and police their resources more efficiently than developing countries. Germany, for example, was ranked seventh with a score of 73; the US scored 63 (29th), and the UK, 62 (40th place).
Only ten countries managed to score more than 70, which represents only 5% of areas surveyed. 50 countries, almost one-third of the list, scored under 50.
Dr Ben Halpern, a marine scientist from the US National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis in Santa Barbara, California, is one of the leaders of the survey. “The index helps us separate our gut feelings about good and bad from the measurement of what's happening," he said.
"It provides a tool that puts meat on the metaphor of ocean health, which is bandied about all over the place but without anything to use to actually measure it."
This is the first time a comprehensive ocean health index has been compiled. The index compares all the world's coastal countries and bases their score on how the surrounding seas benefit man and nature.