In an attempt to get a true assessment of the health of the world’s oceans, a consortium of scientists, environmentalists, conservationists and policy makers from Canada and the United States have joined to study and create a resulting Ocean Health Index report.

The goal of the group was to research the affects that humans have had on the world’s oceans and create a grading system to alert the need for improved management. The results were published in the online journal, Nature, and bring some surprising information.

The overall score of all of the earth’s oceans have received a score of sixty. This incorporates the worst of the oceans (a score of 36 in Sierra Leone) and the best of scores (a score of 86 in the waters around Jarvis Island, near Hawaii).

Sources:
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/15/introducing-the-ocean-health-index/
http://www.conservation.org/global/marine/initiatives/ocean_health_index/pages/ocean_health_index.aspx

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