- Protecting 30% of the planet would cost less
than what the world spends today on video games.
(gentle music)
(up tempo music)
My job was to study the impacts of humans,
the impacts of fishing, and global warming in the ocean,
and write about it in scientific journals.
But one day I realized
that all I was doing was writing the obituary of the ocean.
So I felt like the doctor who's telling you
how you're going to die with excruciating detail,
but not offering a cure.
And that day I decided to quit academia to work on the cure.
(increasingly upbeat music)
The places that I love so much
were becoming less and less alive every year
because of too much fishing
and pollution and global warming.
Coral reefs were bleaching and dying.
There were less and less large fish.
Most places didn't have any sharks.
But then when I dived in a marine reserve,
an area that was fully protected from fishing
in the Mediterranean Sea where they grew up,
oh my God, I saw everything was there.
Everything was back.
And that's, for me, it was a realization
that first dive in a marine reserve was like, wow.
The ocean used to be like this.
(gentle music)
(more uptempo music)
The sea floor, all the sediment on the bottom of the ocean,
is the largest carbon store house on the planet.
The ocean absorbs so much of our carbon portion
but our activities are degrading ocean life,
are depleting the ocean,
and are diminishing the ability of the ocean
to capture all of our excess carbon.
(gentle music)
(uptempo music)
The ocean is the epitome of out of sight, out of mind.
We know much more about the land.
We have more detailed maps
of the surface of the moon or Mars
than of the bottom of the ocean.
But we do know that the ocean is absolutely essential
for our survival.
So we have a huge job, a huge task
to educate everybody on the planet
that the ocean is absolutely essential for our survival.
(upbeat music continues)
(slower, gentler music)
We produce enough food right now to feed 10 billion people.
Only we waste a third of it.
So if we fix that
we wouldn't need to explore more fishing grounds,
or cut more forests,
or turn grasslands into grazing ranges, right?
But also we know that if we protect more of our planet,
the economy will do better.
People are going to be able to get more food
and be healthier.
We will reduce the costs of healthcare,
the cost of climate and natural disasters.
When we invest in nature, nature gives back.
We know, for example, every dollar that we invest
in protected areas,
produces $10 in return that benefits local communities.
So a more protected world,
a world with more nature,
is a richer, healthier, and wealthier world.
(upbeat music)