Date published: 2006/06/25
The BBC says:
Human activity has had a devastating effect on coasts since Roman times, research suggests.
More than 90% of coastal life has declined and there is widespread degradation of water quality.
Scientists studied 12 estuarine and coastal regions in Europe, North America and Australia from the onset of human settlement until today.
Their findings, reported in Science, suggest that 20th Century conservation efforts have had only limited success.
A team from nine research centres in the US, Canada, Australia and Panama used archaeological, historical and ecological records to study the human footprint on coasts and estuaries over the past 2,500 years.
The group found that depletion of natural resources began during Roman times, then accelerated in Medieval times and in the wake of European settlement in North America and Australia.
Many of the biggest declines were seen from 1900 to 1950 and 1950 to 2000 as populations grew and industry boomed.
What a surprise, who would have thought this. And obviously (but no doubt this is another research project) the same holds for non-coastal areas. Any species as successful as homo sapiens is bound to have a negative impact on other species. We do not need scientists to figure that one out. (Of course the detailed analysis might provide some interesting facts.)
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