Getting serious about valuing the ocean

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Rashid Sumaila (2009) and his colleagues estimate that damage to the world's oceans from human activity will cost the global economy over 400 billion dollar per year in the next 40 years. They looked at impacts to fishing, tourism, and other economic activity from the top six threats to the ocean: acidification, warming, oxygen depletion, sea level rise, pollution, and the overuse of ocean resources. By putting a dollar value on services that the ocean provides to human, the authors hope to help people understand the risks and spur policy makers to take action to protect the ocean's irreplaceable resources.