Study shows: Oceans on brink of mass extinction

It’s not the first time scientists warn us for a coming mass extinction in the oceans. Massive decline of the big fishs, dying coralreefs and the destruction of the ocean floors. Again scientists give us a frighting warning about our oceans

from ABC science

Climate change, over-fishing and other human impacts have pushed the oceans to the brink of a mass extinction that could take tens of millions of years to recover from, an Australian scientist says. Dr John Alroy from Macquarie University in Sydney has used the fossil record of the ocean, dating back more than 500 million years, to study how major changes in marine animal groups take place.

His work is published today in the journal Science. In the course of the past 540 million years, marine animals have undergone several mass extinctions that saw dominant life forms suddenly replaced by others, he says. For example, about 250 million years ago, species of animals known as lamp shells, which had dominated sea-beds, were suddenly replaced by clams and snails.

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