Map

Human Impact on Marine Ecosystems

Map type: Human Influence

This map shows the impacts of humans on the ocean’s ecosystems.

To generate this map, the research team collected or created global maps of 17 different human activities, such as fishing and pollution, that have an impact on marine ecosystems, as well as maps of different marine ecosystems.

The team quantified the vulnerability of each marine ecosystem to the different human activities. This map of human impacts was made by combining the threat maps and the vulnerability scores.

Source: Halpern et al. 2008. A global map of human impact on marine ecosystems. Science 319 (5865): 948–952.