50% of world’s marine population disappeared between 1970 - 2012 : WWF
Q. Half of the world’s marine population disappeared between which years, according to a September 2015 estimate by WWF?- Published on 18 Sep 15a. 1970 to 2012
b. 1980 to 2013
c. 1990 to 2014
d. 2000 to 2015
ANSWER: 1970 to 2012
As per the WWF Living Blue Planet report, half of the world's marine population (49%) has disappeared between 1970 and 2012, a plunge to the “brink of collapse“ caused by over-fishing and other threats. 29% of world’s oceans are classified as overfished and a further 61% as fully exploited. Global population sizes of the Scombridae family of food fish has decreased by 74%. Declining stocks of blue fin and yellowfin have pushed them to near extinction.There has been a 50% reduction in population numbers globally of fish during the period from 1970s to early 2000s.Almost 75% of the world's coral reefs are threatened with their cover having decreased by more than 50% in the last 3 decades. With over 25% of all marine species living in coral reefs and about 850 million people directly benefiting from them economically , the loss of these reefs would is considered dangerous. 20% loss in mangrove cover between 1980 and 2005 equal to as much as 3.6 million hectares indicates rate of loss is 3-5 times greater than average global forest loss. Global catches of sharks have increased by 300%. This means that 25% of shark, rays and skates are now threatened with local extinction.5,829 populations of 1,234 species were studied as part of this report.
