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TheBountyoftheSeaDuringthepastthirtyyears,Ihaveobservedandstudiedtheoceansclosely,andwithmyowntwoeyesIhaveseenthemsicken.Certainreefsthatteemedwithfishonlytenyearsagoarenowalmostlifeless.Theoceanbottomhasbeenrapedbytrawlers.Pricelesswetlandshavebeendestroyedbylandfill.Andeverywherearestickyglobsofoil,plasticrefuse,andunseencloudsofpoisonouseffluents.Often,whenIdescribethesymptomsoftheoceans'sickness,Ihearremarkslikethey'reonlyfishorthey'reonlywhalesorthey'reonlybirds.ButIassureyouthatourdestiniesarelinkedwiththeirsinthemostprofoundandfundamentalmanner.Foriftheoceansshoulddie—bywhichImeanthatalllifeintheseawouldfinallycease—thiswouldsignaltheendnotonlyformarinelifebutforallotheranimalsandplantsofthisearth,includingman.在过去的三十年里，我一直在严密地观察和研究海洋。我用我自己的双眼，见证了海洋变得生病了。某些十年前还充满了鱼类的礁，现在基本没有任何生命了。海洋的底部已经被拖网渔船抢劫殆尽。极贵重的湿地也已经被垃圾堆破坏了。到处都是黏黏的石油团，塑料废物和一大片不可见的有毒的流出物。当我描述海洋病态的症状时，我经常听到一些诸如此类的言辞“那些生物只是鱼而已”或者“那些生物只是鲸而已”或者“那些生物只是鸟而已”。但是，我保证我们的命运跟那些生物的命运，以最深刻的和最基本的方式联系在一起。因为，如果海洋将死去——我的意思是海洋中的所有生命最终都将终了——这将会给出一个终结的信号，不仅仅对于海洋生物，而且是对于地球上其他所有的动植物，包括人类。Withlifedeparted,theoceanwouldbecome,ineffect,oneenormouscesspool.Billionofdecayingbodies,largeandsmall,wouldcreatesuchaninsupportablestenchthatmanwouldbeforcedtoleaveallthecoastalregions.Butfarworsewouldfollow.随着生命的逝去，海洋将会受到影响，变成一个巨大的污水坑。上百万腐烂的尸体，不管大小，都将会创造出一种令人难以忍受的恶臭，以致于人类将被迫离开所有的沿海地区。但是就算离开得再远，更糟糕的事也会随之而至。Theoceanactsastheearth'sbuffer.Itmaintainsafinebalancebetweenthemanysaltsandgaseswhichmakelifepossible.Butdeadseaswouldhavenobufferingeffect.Thecarbondioxidecontentoftheatmospherewouldstartonasteadyandremorselessclimb,andwhenitreachedacertainlevelagreenhouseeffectwouldbecreated.TheheatthatnormallyradiatesoutwardfromtheearthtospacewouldbeblockedbytheCO2,andsealeveltemperatureswoulddramaticallyincrease.海洋就像是地球的缓冲区。在许多的盐和气体中，海洋维持了一种很适当的平衡，这种平衡使得生命的出现变得可能。但是死亡的海洋将不会起到任何缓冲区的作用。大气层中的二氧化碳含量将一种稳定并无休止的速度上升，当含量上升到一定水平，一种“温室效应”将会出现。一种通常由地球往外向太空散出的热量将被二氧化碳所阻隔，海平面的温度降戏剧性地升高。OnecatastrophiceffectofthisheatwouldbemeltingoftheicecapsatboththeNorthandSouthPoles.Asaresult,theoceanwouldriseby100feetormore,enoughtofloodalmostalltheworld'smajorcities.Theserisingwaterswoulddriveone-thirdoftheearth'sbillionsinland,creatingfamine,fighting,chaos,anddiseaseonascalealmostimpossibletoimagine.这种热量的灾难性的影响之一是将北极和南极的冰盖慢慢融化。结果，海洋将会上升100英尺甚至更多，这个已经足够将时间上大多数城市淹没了。这些上升的海水还会将地球几十亿人口的三分之一驱赶到内陆地区，引发饥荒，纷争，混乱和几乎难以想象的大规模疾病。Meanwhile,thesurfaceoftheoceanwouldhavescummedoverwithathickfilmofdecayedmatter,andwouldnolongerbeabletogivewaterfreelytotheskiesthroughevaporation.Rainwouldbecomeararity,creatingglobaldroughtandevenmorefamine.同时，海洋的表面将被一层由腐烂的东西构成的厚厚的膜覆盖，并且不再能通过蒸发自由地将水分送上天空，雨水将变成一种稀罕物，导致全球干旱，甚至更多的饥荒。Butthefinalactisyettocome.Thewretchedremnantofthehumanracewouldnowbepackedcheekbyjowlontheremaininghighlands,bewildered,starving,strugglingtosurvivefromhourtohour.Thenwouldbevisiteduponthemthefinalplague,anoxia(lackofoxygen).Thiswouldbecausedbytheextinctionofplanktonalgaeandthereductionoflandvegetation,thetwosourcesthatsupplytheoxygenyouarenowbreathing.但是，最后的一幕还没有到来。人类可怜的幸存者将在仅存的高地紧紧挤在一起，感受着迷惑，饥饿，挣扎着活过一个又一个小时。然后降临在他们身上的是最终的灾难，缺氧。这将导致浮游的海藻的灭绝和陆地植被的减少，这两者都你们现在呼吸的氧气的两个来源。Andsomanwouldfinallydie,slowlygaspingouthislifeonsomebarrenhill.Hewouldhavesurvivedtheoceansbyperhapsthirtyyears.Andhisheirswouldbebacteriaandafewscavengerinsects.于是，人类最终死去，在某个荒芜的山上缓缓落下了最后一口气。人类将比海洋多活也许三十年。他们的后代将是细菌和一些食腐类昆虫。