[OCEAN AND PEOPLE]
Why is the ocean important, even for those of us living in cities far away from it?
Three billion people around the world rely on fish as their primary source of protein.
Think of your last seafood meal.
Before the fish was on your plate,
it was fished out from the ocean,
probably caught by a fishing trawler
and bought at the market.
Aside from food, the ocean plays other important roles in our lives.
The ocean covers over 70 percent of the Earth’s surface
and is critical to regulating global climate and storing carbon.
More than half of Earth’s oxygen comes from the ocean.
[The ocean stores 50 times more carbon dioxide than our atmosphere.]
A healthy ocean also supports livelihoods.
Tourism, entertainment and leisure activities
often develop around beaches and coastlines
— significantly contributing to local economies.
[Resorts drive the economy of many coastal cities.]
The ocean even plays a role in providing for our medicines,
with many pharmaceutical ingredients — like those used to fight cancer, arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease
— coming from marine organisms such as seaweeds, fungi and plants.
But the ocean can only provide these benefits if it's healthy.
And right now, it's being pushed to the brink by human activities
such as overfishing,
[OVER HALF OF ALL FISHERIES ARE OVERFISHED]
[8 MILLION METRIC TONS OF PLASTIC DUMPED INTO OCEAN] pollution,
[CLIMATE CHANGE IS THE MAIN CAUSE OF RISING SEA LEVELS] and climate change itself.
The ocean is an enormous buffer for climate change.
Threats to its health hinders its abilities to absorb 90% of CO2 as well as heat
– leading to the ocean being acidified and sea levels to rise from melting glaciers.
When the ocean becomes acidified, it becomes increasingly difficult for marine life to live.
Human activities such as overfishing and ocean pollution further worsens this.
As we lose more and more fish in the ocean, it erodes the food web.
This leads to the collapse of the diversity of life in the ocean.
Food people depend on will massively decrease
and various leisure activities important to the economy will no longer be possible.
On top of that, the loss of ocean biodiversity such as corals,
combined with rising sea levels, means those living near the coasts will have lesser protection from ever-increasing extreme sea level events,
such as flooding and typhoons.
Such events have devastating effects for humans.
People living along coastlines are threatened with being displaced from their homes,
important cultural places may be destroyed as well as the loss of lives.
While there are threats facing the ocean, there are also actions we can all take to protect and restore it.
More than 190 countries have called for 30% of the ocean to be protected by 2030.
We can urge our governments, businesses and NGOs to support this goal, known as the 30x30 campaign,
as well as raising awareness and urging others to join through the #Love30x30 campaign.
All of us can do our part in our daily lives too.
Be savvy when shopping for seafood.
Buy locally where possible
and choose seafood that are sustainably sourced.
Also consider eating smaller species of fish which are generally widely available and healthier
— benefitting both you and the planet.
Reducing plastic waste is crucial to ensuring healthy ocean ecosystems.
Besides recycling, we can also refuse using single-use plastics.
[80 percent of waste that pollutes the ocean comes from land.] Litter from cities often ends up in the ocean.
If you see litter on your street, do help to dispose of it properly.
Everyone can and must play their part to ensure the protection and conservation of the ocean we all depend on.
Next time you sit down to a seafood meal, think about everything the ocean does for you
— and what more you can do for the ocean.
Join us to discover the value and wonders of biodiversity.