'A new management tool for decision-making'. (Resources).

More than two and a half years in development and after a decade of planning, the UN Atlas of the Oceans represents the most ambitious global scientific information collaboration ever online, and an international consensus-building tool that is expected to assist negotiations of future marine-related agreements.

The need for the Atlas was recognized during the 1992 Earth Summit in response to a call to identify and address the greatest environmental challenges facing the planet.

Amid mounting concern over the continuing deterioration of marine and coastal ecosystems, several of the world's foremost ocean agencies created this tool, with the goal of helping reverse the decline and promote the sustainable development of oceans. Overfishing, destruction of coastal habitat, and pollution from industry, farms and households are endangering not only fish--the leading individual source of animal protein in the human diet--but also marine biodiversity and even the global climate. The Atlas spotlights these and other acute marine issues.

It combines the credibility and leadership of the United Nations with the vast knowledge of scientific organizations to monitor, diagnose and heal the great oceans of the world. The Atlas is intended for a complete cross-section of users--from schoolchildren, educators and the general public, to policy makers, scientists, the media, non-governmental organizations and resource managers--needing access to comprehensive databases. It is designed to be an encyclopedic resource, as well as the world's foremost information clearing house and online forum for experts in ocean issues.

The Atlas contains an initial 14 global maps and links to hundreds of others, including 264 maps showing the distribution of fishery resources. There are also 100 maps showing global ice cover, navigation routes, earthquake and volcanic activity, temperature gradients, bottom contours, salinity and other ocean characteristics.

A successful example of cooperation among UN agencies and international centres of excellence, the substantial amount of information contained in the Atlas databases developed by the United Nations is now available to everybody (see http://www.oceansatlas.org). The web site is supplemented by a CD-ROM and other media, co-published with Cinegram Multimedia, to reach broader audiences and regions where Internet access is difficult.

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Oceans cover almost three quarters of the Earth's surface. They comprise nine-tenths of our water resources and are home to over 97 per cent of life on our planet. They are an essential part of our biosphere; they power our climate and affect our health and well-being. Indeed, without the oceans, there would be no life on our planet.

The UN Atlas of the Oceans organizes information according to general subject areas:

* Uses: disposal of waste from land, energy, fisheries and aquaculture, human coastal settlements, marine biotechnology, non-consumptive uses, ocean dumping and ship wastes, offshore oil, gas and mining, recreation and tourism, and transportation and telecommunications.

* Issues: climate variability and climate change, economics, emergencies, food security, governance, health, pollution and degradation, safety and sustainable development.

* Background: includes biology and ecology, how oceans were formed and how they are changing, monitoring and observing systems, and maps, statistics and online databases.

* Geography: categorizes information according to geographic region.

Among issues addressed:

* Fishing: all 17 of the world's major fishing areas have either reached or exceeded their natural limits and nine are in serious decline, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

* Piracy: the number of reported piracy attacks worldwide for 1999 rose nearly 40 per cent compared with 1998 and almost tripled compared with 1991, according to the International Maritime Bureau of the International Chamber of Commerce.

* Algal blooms: The number of poisonous algal species identified by scientists has nearly tripled since 1984, increasing fish kills, beach closures and economic losses. Large parts of the Gulf of Mexico are considered biological dead zones due to algal blooms.

* Coral reefs: 58 per cent of the world's coral reefs are at high or medium risk of degradation, with more than 80 per cent of Southeast Asia's extensive reef systems under threat, according to the World Resources Institute.

* Invasive species: Marine bio-invasions have been identified as a major global environmental and economic problem, with several thousand species estimated to be in the ballast tanks of the world's shipping at any one time. The Atlantic box jelly, believed to have been released in a ship's ballast water, helped wipe out life in the Black Sea. In San Francisco Bay, a new foreign species takes hold every 14 weeks, scientists warn.