Doha, June 09 (QNA) - The United Nations (UN) has warned that the world's oceans are coming under severe and accelerating pressure from human activities, giving rise to dangerous environmental phenomena, including sea-level rise at twice the rate recorded a decade ago, massive biodiversity loss, and mounting pressure on marine ecosystems as a result of pollution and large-scale industrial fishing.
The third United Nations World Ocean Assessment report, released on World Oceans Day and produced through the efforts of nearly 600 scientists from 86 countries, reviewed the state of the oceans during the 2021-2025 period, stressing that the future of humanity is a sine qua non for protecting the oceans.
The report underscored that the coming decade will be decisive, warning that without rapid and coordinated global action, ocean health will continue to deteriorate, threatening climate stability, the resilience of biodiversity, food security, livelihoods, and the well-being of billions of people.
It highlighted the extent of the damage inflicted on the oceans over the past few years. Among the key findings, scientists found that sea levels continue to rise at an accelerating pace, increasing from 2 millimeters per year before 2015 to 4.3 millimeters per year in 2023.
The report also emphasized the oceans' immense importance to people everywhere and their impact on the daily lives of every individual, including those who do not live in coastal areas.
The report further noted that oceans contribute to climate stability by absorbing most of the excess heat on Earth, while also helping curb harmful greenhouse-gas emissions. Without their cooling effect, more extreme weather would occur with increasing frequency, posing a threat to food systems, supply chains, and insurance companies.
The emblematic progress has been achieved in ocean protection, including the landmark High Seas Treaty, which entered into force this year and established international rules for safeguarding two-thirds of the global ocean that lies beyond the jurisdiction of any state, the report shared.
It elucidated that this agreement, together with 56 other ocean-protection treaties, has enhanced the global capacity to protect biodiversity.
The report also stressed that solutions remain available despite the mounting pressures on the oceans. These include nature-based approaches, emissions reductions, and the expansion of marine protected areas.
It cautioned, however, that even the full restoration of marine ecosystems would contribute only around 2 percent of global climate-change mitigation targets, underscoring the need for a radical shift.
The UN report pointed out that human activity is reshaping marine ecosystems. The world's population reached 8.2 billion in 2024, with 37 percent living within 100 kilometers of coastlines. And this has concentrated human and economic activity in fragile coastal areas, resulting in increased extraction of natural resources, expanded infrastructure, waste discharge, and habitat degradation.
The report added that offshore projects are likewise on the march, with wind farms, deep-water oil infrastructure, and the expansion of seabed cables and pipelines transforming habitats far from shore. 

The report stressed that marine life is coming under severe pressure, as reflected in the nearly 80 percent decline of coral reefs in the Caribbean since the 1970s.
It warned that 90 percent of the world's coral reefs could disappear if warming exceeds 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Meanwhile, vital coastal ecosystems such as mangroves and seagrass meadows continue to shrink, while species ranging from plankton to marine mammals are on the march toward the Arctic and Antarctic as temperatures rise.
At the same time, non-native species are spreading more easily under changing environmental conditions.
The study outlined that marine pollution is likewise on the march. Every year, 52 million tons of plastic waste enter the oceans, contributing to the formation of an estimated 24 trillion microplastic particles and affecting more than 4,000 marine species. Marine food systems remain a vital source of nutrition and livelihoods, providing 20 percent of the animal protein consumed by humans worldwide.
In this regard, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said what matters most is the global cooperation to protect marine ecosystems, stressing that humanity must forge ahead with building a new relationship with the oceans, one grounded in science, framed by international law, and based on shared responsibility among states, sectors, and generations.
Commenting on the findings of the international report, Greenpeace underscored the need to regard the findings as an urgent wake-up call for governments to protect what it described as “the last pristine frontier of our planetâ€‌ from deep-sea mining and industrial fishing.
The organization called on governments to spring into action by establishing fully protected marine reserves that would close vast areas of the oceans to extractive human activities.
Greenpeace also noted that governments have pledged to protect 30 percent of the world's oceans by 2030, the minimum threshold that scientists say is necessary for the oceans to recover.
آ  The oceans are among nature's greatest gifts to the blue planet. They cover more than 70 percent of the Earth's surface, produce roughly half of the oxygen humans breathe, and absorb nearly one-third of carbon dioxide emissions generated by human activities.
They are also a fundamental source of food, energy, and medicine, and a major driver of the global economy, with billions of people depending on them for their livelihoods and well-being.
The ocean economy is estimated at USD 1.5 trillion annually and is expected to turbocharge beyond USD 3 trillion by 2030. It supports the coastal and marine tourism sector through 174 million jobs, while maritime transport carries more than 80 percent of global trade.
Yet this vital and sensitive system is facing unprecedented pressures. Over the years, 90 percent of large fish stocks have been depleted, and half of the world's coral reefs have been destroyed.
Humanity is taking more from the oceans than they can replenish, a harbinger of unpleasant things to come. This situation underscores the need to spring into action and unite efforts to establish a more balanced relationship with the oceans, one based not on exhausting their bounty but on restoring their health, renewing their vitality, and allowing them to flourish once again. (QNA)