Wednesday October 1, 2025
CBS News 8 —
SAN DIEGO — A new study from UC Santa Barbara is sounding the alarm on how human activity is accelerating changes in the world’s oceans — and warns that, without intervention, the damage could more than double by 2050.
Led by marine ecologist and professor at UCSB, Dr. Ben Halpern, the research paints a sobering picture of how quickly the planet’s oceans are being affected by the cumulative weight of human pressures.
“If you are only on the surface of the water and never pop your head under, you may not realize that there are a lot fewer fish, and the habitats are not doing as well because of the impact,” Halpern said. “But all you have to do is pop your head underwater, and you’ll see that things are different — and they will start to be really different in a lot of places by 2050, by mid-century.”
The study examines the combined effects of ocean warming, overfishing, sea level rise and acidification. Halpern and his team found that these overlapping issues are leading to a dramatic loss of biomass — the total amount of living organisms in the ocean — with no signs of slowing unless action is taken.
“The speed at which we are accelerating toward much heavier, bigger impacts on the oceans… I mean, mid-century sounds like a long way off, but it’s only 25 years away,” Halpern said. “That’s what I think was really surprising — how quickly we get to these much higher impacts if we’re not careful.”
Still, Halpern says there is reason for hope. He emphasizes that these forward-looking models serve as tools for decision-makers and offer an opportunity to reverse course.
“That’s the real power of the work we’ve done — you get the bigger picture,” he said. “Then you can pull the pieces apart and really understand what the main drivers are, what’s causing it. That’s the kind of information that public policymakers, businesses, and resource managers can use to hopefully mitigate some of those issues and pressures, and make things better in the future.”
While large-scale policy decisions will be crucial, Halpern emphasizes that individuals also have a role to play in altering the trajectory.
“It’s sort of analogous to the research I’m doing — the cumulative effect of all the people individually viewing stuff can actually make a huge difference,” he said.
Ultimately, Halpern hopes the study will be seen not as a dire forecast, but as a clear warning — and a chance to chart a new path.