'Humanity at risk'

We'll try to steer away from bag o' downers news posts, but this new report from the United Nations Environment Program underscores the urgent need for all of us to get much more active in addressing global threats, from climate change to destruction of critical habitat in the oceans and on land.

The good news? According to Achim Steiner, director of the Environment Program, the response to the threats over the past 20 years "has in some cases been courageous and inspiring."

The bad news? Also from Steiner: "...all too often [the response] has been slow and at a pace and scale that fails to respond to or recognise the magnitude of the challenges facing the people and the environment of the planet."

You can make a difference for the oceans by standing up and speaking out -- as a Seafood Watch advocate for sustainable fishing and fish-farming, as a member of Monterey Bay Aquarium's Ocean Action Team on a range of ocean conservation issues. Whatever you do, one thing is abundantly clear: All of us need to step it up -- for ourselves, for the planet and for the generations to come.