Mike, Lora and Mat, writing with Bruce Maycock of Curtin University, Australia, have published an editorial in the BMJ arguing that more needs to be done to identify, monitor, and communicate the risks to human health and wellbeing from the degradation of the seas and oceans.

The editorial makes a strong case for action:

We cannot continue to discharge vast amounts of waste materials into our seas and expect human health and wellbeing to be unaffected. As yet we lack a clear, global vision of how to reconcile the health of both oceans and people, and how to support decision makers in achieving sustainable marine ecosystems that promote public health.

They conclude that policy makers must be held to account and that rapid action is possible, giving the example of the response to marine plastic pollution. They suggest that it is not too late to turn the tide and that responding to… concerns over health issues arising from environmental damage is not a luxury but a necessity.

Read the full editorial on the BMJ site: Time and tide (2019) M Depledge, M White, B Maycock, L Fleming (2019) BMJ 336: 4671