World Ocean Observatory newsletter

World Ocean Observer - Cities and Oceans

Saving Our Oceans-An Urban Challenge1

Mayor Jeremy Harris, Ret.
The Sustainable Cities Institute

The oceans are in jeopardy. At no time in the span of human
civilization have we faced such extreme and global threats to our
marine ecosystems. Pollution levels in coastal habitats are
reaching alarming levels. Heavy metal contamination is yielding some
commercial fish stocks unsafe, and many species are exploited to the
brink of collapse.

World Ocean Observer - International Polar Year

International Polar Year 2007 Will Mark a Major Leap in Our Understanding and Appreciaton of Polar Ecosystems

Tundi Agardy, PhD.

IPY is a joint program of the International Union of Science (ICSU) and
the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) involving thousands of
scientists from over 60 countries who will conduct more than 150
physical, biological and social sciences research studies in the Arctic
and Antarctic.

World Ocean Observer - Exporting Pollution

Exporting Pollution

Tundi Agardy, Ph.D.

Ships have changed the world. Consider the role that sea-going vessels
have had in rise of some of the greatest civilizations: those of
ancient India and China, the Vikings, or the Mediterranean-based
Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans. Maritime traffic has allowed cultural,
biological, and commercial exchange, profoundly influencing the
development of both individual societies and the world as a whole1.

World Ocean Observer - Sea Turtles

How Sea Turtles Draw Us In To the Broader Challenges of Conservation

Tundi Agardy, PhD.

What is it about sea turtles? How are they able to move us so deeply,
perhaps more than any other marine creature? And why has the compassion
that they have managed to generate not translated into effective
conservation of marine turtle species throughout the world?