Oceans are at dire risk, a consortium of scientists, the International Program on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), warned in early June. The interdisciplinary group of specialists gathered at the University of Oxford in April examined the synergistic effects of diverse factors on the oceans for the first time. The group found that oceans are speeding toward biological collapse faster than predicted.

IPSO's research and analysis is one of the most extensive and collaborative ever undertaken. IPSO found that entire ecosystems, like coral reefs, are dying, complete populations of certain species of fish are close to extinction and pollution is at an all-time high. These various factors are bad enough in isolation, but the comprehensive study found that they add up much more quickly than previously understood.

The scientific studies concluded that the ocean is entering a period exhibiting the same symptoms as the five previous mass extinctions in Earth's history.