Man's serious impact on aquatic life will happen long before climate change takes full effect. Here's some recent quotes to think about ...
In Over-fishing, not climate change, is greatest danger to world's oceans:
"Across the 21 different ecosystems we have looked at, direct human actions have long been exceeding - and will long continue to exceed - the effects of climate change in almost every case", Professor Nicholas Polunin of Newcastle University.
He urged the science community not to overplay the effect of global warming, in comparison to the direct effect mankind has had on the natural world.
"Climate change has got people thinking about the future at all levels and the next step in our ecological planning of the planet's water resources needs to be more comprehensive, encompassing growing human consumption, its causes and consequences."
The study draws on the expertise of more than 100 top aquatic ecologists, looked at the world's water-based ecosystems, including lakes, rivers, tropical waters and Arctic seas.
In Silent Streams?:
Nearly 40 percent of fish species in North American streams, rivers and lakes are now in jeopardy, according to the most detailed evaluation of the conservation status of freshwater fishes in the last 20 years.
The 700 fishes now listed represent a staggering 92 percent increase over the previous 1989 study.
One biologist called it "silent extinctions" because few people notice the dramatic dwindling of certain populations deep in American lakes, rivers and streams. And while they are unaware, people are the chief cause of the problem by polluting and damming freshwater habitats, experts said.
"Fish are not the only aquatic organisms undergoing precipitous declines. Freshwater crayfishes, snails and mussels are exhibiting similar or even greater levels of decline and extinction." Noel Burkhead, USGS researcher, a lead author on the report and the chair of the AFS Endangered Species Committee.
"Things are tanking all around us. When does it have to be bad enough to get people's attention?" Larry Crowder, Duke University marine biologist.
"A lot of silent extinctions are happening. What we're doing is widespread, it's pervasive and it's rapid." Anthony Ricciardi, McGill University biologist.
