Half of the world's marine life was wiped out between 1970 and 2010

If marine life continues to decline at the same rate that it has over the last 40 years, the ocean as we know it could soon cease to exist. A new report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) released Wednesday reveals that between 1970 and 2010, the "global populations of marine mammals, fish, birds, and reptiles have dropped by half, and that some species of fish essential to the global food supply — including tuna and mackerel — have declined 74 percent," International Business Times reports.

"The picture is now clearer than ever — humanity is collectively mismanaging the ocean to the brink of collapse," Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International, said in a statement. "Considering the ocean’s vital role in our economies and its essential contribution to food security — particularly for poor, coastal communities — that's simply unacceptable."

The drastic declines across 1,234 ocean species are attributable to numerous factors, including overfishing, pollution, the loss of key habitats, and climate change, The Guardian reports. Oceans are becoming increasingly acidic because of the growing amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, of which oceans only have a limited capacity to absorb, Louise Heaps, chief advisor on marine policy at WWF UK told The Guardian.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

But while the situation looks dire, Heaps contends that it's not hopeless. "There are choices we can make," Heap told The Guardian. "But it is urgent."