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Article: Ocean health and human health.(Guest Editorial)
- Article from:
- Environmental Health Perspectives
- Article date:
- April 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Oceans cover 70% of the Earth's surface, and they profoundly influence many biological and physical processes of the planet. Moreover, 60% of the human population lives on or near the coast. Thus, it almost goes without saying that ocean health and human health are inextricably linked. Recently, however, these linkages have become more conspicuous to scientists (e.g., Knap et al. 2002) and policy makers (e.g., Oceans and Human Health Act 2003) with the precipitous decline in the health of the oceans themselves.
The most obvious problems stem from our propensity to view dilution as the solution to pollution. Human numbers continue to grow, as do per capita amounts ...