New mechanisms are needed to disseminate scientific knowledge more efficiently and effectively and to utilize it more appropriately. A comprehensive, international scientific assessment such as that conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or the Global Biodiversity Assessment would be one effective mechanism. Such policy-relevant assessments, conducted by outstanding scientists, provide a mechanism for communicating scientific consensus, level of certainty and verdicts on the likely consequences of different policy options. An international scientific assessment of the state of the world's oceans is both timely and essential. An evaluation of which problems are most serious, where each is most urgent, how they interact and potential remedial actions would prove useful.
Humans depend upon the life-support systems provided by the oceans.
A sustainable biosphere requires a living ocean. The seas can no longer be a marginal issue. Jane Lubchenco, Valley Professor of Marine Biology and Distinguished Professor at Oregon State University is President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Past President of the Ecological Society of America. She was on the steering committee of last year's Revelation and the Environment symposium. All rights reserved.