Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2010 Nov 27;365(1558):3765-78. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2010.0278.
Major macroevolutionary events in the history of the oceans are linked to changes in oceanographic conditions and environments on regional to global scales. Even small changes in climate and productivity, such as those that occurred after the rise of the Isthmus of Panama, caused major changes in Caribbean coastal ecosystems and mass extinctions of major taxa. In contrast, massive influxes of carbon at the end of the Palaeocene caused intense global warming, ocean acidification, mass extinction throughout the deep sea and the worldwide disappearance of coral reefs. Today, overfishing, pollution and increases in greenhouse gases are causing comparably great changes to ocean environments and ecosystems. Some of these changes are potentially reversible on very short time scales, but warming and ocean acidification will intensify before they decline even with immediate reduction in emissions. There is an urgent need for immediate and decisive conservation action. Otherwise, another great mass extinction affecting all ocean ecosystems and comparable to the upheavals of the geological past appears inevitable.
海洋历史上的主要宏观进化事件与区域到全球尺度上的海洋学条件和环境变化有关。即使是气候和生产力的微小变化，如巴拿马地峡上升后发生的变化，也会导致加勒比沿海生态系统发生重大变化和主要分类群的大规模灭绝。相比之下，古新世末期大量的碳涌入导致了强烈的全球变暖、海洋酸化、深海大规模灭绝以及世界各地珊瑚礁的消失。如今，过度捕捞、污染和温室气体的增加正在给海洋环境和生态系统带来类似的巨大变化。其中一些变化在非常短的时间内可能是可逆的，但即使立即减少排放，变暖与海洋酸化也将加剧，然后才会下降。迫切需要立即采取果断的保护行动。否则，另一场影响所有海洋生态系统的大灭绝事件似乎不可避免，其规模可与地质历史上的剧变相媲美。
