From coral reefs to recently discovered hydrothermal vents, the oceans contain vast numbers of endangered species. We are rapidly losing these unique, irreplaceable treasures, due in part to an appalling lack of efficacious safeguards. What's in it for us if we intervene to halt this mass extinction? Quite possibly the greatest medical, nutritional, and scientific breakthroughs in all of human history, just waiting to be discovered and harnessed--or forever lost along with the dying species that hold the keys to these secrets.
Kunich examines in detail the applicable international laws as well as domestic laws of the nations with key marine resources, and demonstrates the abject failure of these measures to prevent or halt a mass extinction in our oceans. He concludes with a set of legal proposals that could start us down the road to preserving the marine hotspots and, with them, most of Earth's biodiversity. Legal solutions are not the only answer, but they are a beginning.
"[P]resents an overview of basic oceanography and explains that the current massive extinction of ocean life has one primary cause: humankind. Asking why, if we're responsible for this distruction, we don't take responsibility for it....Kunich believes that individual nations have too narrow a view of the dire situation and that the lack of a world court with enough clout to settle international disputes effectively perpetuates our destruction of marine life. Kunich concludes with thought-provoking proposals for the establishment of worldwide ocean protection and conservation." -
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