Shifting Baseline Syndrome - Perceptions on the Decline of Coral Reefs in the Maldives

Wonder why the there is NO INFORMATION on how the world is doing in ecological terms? Have you noticed why the rising stock prices are getting more expensive as we speak? It's because of the Shifting Baseline Syndrome.

Shifting Baseline Syndrome was founded by Dr. Daniel Pauly and is now a classic phenomenon that many scientists use today. Shifting baseline syndrome is defined as the gradual disappearance of species over time using each new generation as the new baseline, or reference point, to evaluate future changes. I have had the pleasure of having Dr. Pauly as my professor and this is my term paper used for his course, Darwin's Fishes at UBC.