Human impact

Although man is not a marine creature, the draw of the seas and oceans on human civilisation is great. Some three billion people live within 100 kilometres of the sea. Many of our greatest cities are ports and for millennia man has used the sea for food and transport.

The coastal zone has also become an area attractive for recreation. As so many of us and our activities are located on the narrow coastal zone, and because all major rivers end in the sea at some time, the increasing pressure on the marine environment needs our attention.

Pollution 

Transport 

Extraction 

Fishing industry 

Habitation and recreation