Having a ball

Performers from Gandini Juggling, a London-based contemporary circus company, rehearse an act at Somerset House in the British capital city on Thursday Reuters SYDNEY: Shipping, pollution and overfishing have reduced areas of “wilderness” to just 13% of the world’s oceans, a study showed, warning that untouched marine habitats could completely vanish within half a century.

International researchers analysing the impact of human activity, from fertiliser runoff to increased sea transport, on underwater ecosystems have mapped the dwindling zones considered pristine.

The bulk of remaining ocean wilderness, classed as “mostly free of human disturbance”, was found in the Arctic and Antarctic, and around remote Pacific islands.

“Improvements in shipping technology mean that even the most remote wilderness areas may come under threat in the future, including once ice-covered places that are now accessible because of climate change,” said lead researcher Kendall Jones, from the University of Queensland.

Just five percent of the wilderness areas are in protected zones, leaving the rest vulnerable, according to the study published in the journal Current Biology.

It called for greater inter national coordination to regulate the world’s oceans, clamp down on overfishing, limit destructive ocean-mining and reduce sediment runoff.

The study found that having a electronic device such as phone or tablet did not lower students’ scores in comprehension tests within lectures, but it did lower scores in the end-of-term exam by at least 5% ISTOCK