(waves rolling)
- [Sigourney Weaver] Life began in the ocean.
(atmospheric music)
And the ocean has sustained life ever since.
It provides us with food,
oxygen, and fresh water,
the riches with which we have built civilizations.
The ocean connects all things:
earth to atmosphere,
continents and cultures.
The ocean controls and stabilizes our climate.
It absorbs one-quarter of the carbon
we emit burning fossil fuels,
and stores 90% of the sun's heat on our warming planet.
It distributes that heat around the world
through ocean currents, moderating temperatures,
maintaining favorable conditions for life everywhere.
But for too long, we have taken the ocean for granted.
(somber music)
Acting as though its resources were infinite,
its systems immutable,
we have pushed past its limits.
Now the ocean is starting to falter,
its water heating and acidifying,
its corals bleaching,
its islands drowning,
its fish stocks in decline.
And yet we rely on the ocean now more than ever
to guard humanity against climate change itself.
(atmospheric music)
We must help the ocean heal.
That means turning away from dirty fuels
and toward the abundant renewable energy nature bestows.
We must also protect the ocean's ability
to store carbon dioxide.
We can do this by nurturing the rainforests of the ocean,
habitats that capture carbon
and also help protect coastal communities,
and by preserving the foundation of the ocean's food web,
the organisms that help transport carbon to the deep sea.
(emphatic music)
The ocean can use its enormous power
to cleanse and regenerate itself
if we only give it a chance,
by fishing sustainably and creating protected zones
where life can flourish and adapt to the changing climate,
and by using science to continue
unraveling the ocean's secrets.
Because if we truly understand and respect it,
the ocean will help us safeguard all life on earth.
(rousing music)