January 22, 2015 — New York officials have issued a 10-year plan calling for greater efforts to preserve the state’s marine environment in the face of human impact, habitat degradation, and climate change.
The Ocean Action Plan, released last Thursday, did not identify any new sources of funding for its more than 200 recommendations or offer estimates of their cost.
A separate study published last Thursday in the journal Science found that the risk of massive extinctions among animals that live in the earth’s oceans had increased due to the same factors. According to the authors of that study, new pressures have begun to emerge, among them mining, oil exploration, and some kinds of aquaculture.
In the state’s preliminary draft, which took about three years to complete, the Department of Environmental Conservation and Department of State pointed to environmental changes and the unsustainable exploitation of ocean, bay, and estuarine resources. It identified global warming as the most pressing challenge and listed a broad range of other reasons for concern. These included bycatch and other destructive fishing practices, ocean acidification, habitat loss, and water quality problems.
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