Ah! The ocean. Every natural wonder has its own charm, and the ocean is no different. Many of us have experienced the ocean, in one way or the other, at least once in our lives. Some people are lucky enough to be living near the ocean! In fact, even I have been fortunate enough to visit beaches and get into the ocean in India, as well as in other countries.
Today, our oceans need our help more than ever before. Prior to diving further into this, I would like to discuss the origins of celebrating this day.
The concept of World Oceans Day was originally proposed in 1992 by Canada’s International Centre for Ocean Development and the Ocean Institute of Canada at the Earth Summit – UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Today, plastic pollution and climate change have become two of the most formidable enemies of our oceans.
A huge quantity of plastic goes to trash dumps. Many of these are right by the sea, which means trash overflows from them directly into the ocean. Often, rainwater and wind carries plastic litter from landfills into drains, from where it enters rivers and ultimately ends up in the oceans. Marine litter and microplastics are flooding our oceans and are hurting marine ecosystems and human health on an unprecedented scale. Microplastics are extremely dangerous, as fish and other marine animals have been known to eat them. This is not cool at all, either for their health or ours, because quite often fish who eat microplastics become part of our dinner (I’m vegetarian though!). Even our daily table salt contains nanoparticles of plastic. Every year, up to 13 million tonnes of plastic leaks into our oceans where it endangers marine wildlife. That’s the same as pouring an entire garbage truck of plastic into the ocean every minute! In fact, by 2050, the weight of plastic in our oceans will be more than the weight of the fishes and 99% of seabirds will have ingested plastic. Marine litter harms over 600 marine species and 15% of species affected by ingestion and entanglement from it are endangered. Around 11.1 billion plastic items are tangled in coral reefs—blocking their oxygen and light and releasing harmful chemicals. An estimated 70% of the world’s reefs are already threatened or destroyed. According to the State of Plastics report, “Studies suggest that the total economic damage to the world’s marine ecosystem caused by plastic amounts to more than $8 billion every year.’ Plastic is also creating swirling gyres at different locations in the oceans ( the largest off the coast of California is twice the size of Texas!).
Climate change has been causing our oceans to warm up. This has dire consequences for marine life as the optimal temperatures required for their survival are disturbed. Ocean warming also leads to melting of ice sheets in our polar regions, which in turn causes sea levels to rise. These implications are dire, as when sea levels rise rapidly, as they have been doing, even a small increase can have devastating effects on coastal habitats. As seawater reaches further inland, it can cause destructive erosion, wetland flooding, aquifer and agricultural soil contamination, and lost habitat for fish, birds, and plants. Some low-level islands in the Pacific are even at risk of disappearing. The biggest responsibility lies at government level to uphold the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. About 93% of excess energy trapped in the Earth system by man-made greenhouse gases goes towards heating the Ocean – compared to 1% of the atmosphere.
In a desperate attempt to survive increasing ocean heat waves due to climate change, some corals glow in vibrant colour. The corals produce brightly coloured chemicals in their flesh that act as a sunscreen. It is one of the most disturbingly spectacular sights in nature, but until now has gone largely unnoticed. We should all be very alarmed when corals start “glowing” — this is the visual indicator that planetary systems are starting to fail. For the first time in human history, we’re on the verge of losing global-scale ecosystems on which we depend — starting with coral reefs.
The ocean sustains all life on Earth, yet it is as fragile as the human body — with even a small change in temperature (as little as 1° C), vital systems start shutting down. This is what Glowing corals indicate, why we should all take notice and why we need them to inspire action.
The solution does not lie at sea, though. It lies on land with us, the ones who started the problem.
This year, the theme for World Oceans Day is:
“Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean”
Indeed, innovation plays an important role in making our oceans sustainable but there are actions which each and every person can take in order to improve the condition of our oceans.
- We need to make smart choices, reuse and refuse plastic, seek out alternatives and lobby for bans on single use plastics. Together we can turn the plastic tide!
- We should respect the precious corals when we snorkel or dive on holiday, by choosing the right sunscreen (some sun tan lotions have been shown to poison coral). We should also not disturb any marine species. We should act as guests, rather than as an intruder.
- Take the car less and opt for public transport or carpooling. Try to walk or cycle in case of shorter distances.
- Dispose of toxic products such as old batteries and medicines in the proper allocated facilities, so that they don’t pollute waterways.
- Go the extra mile and think about the product you buy. Land and ocean ecosystems are connected. If you buy organic fruits and vegetables and reduce the fertilisers you use in your own garden, you help curb the excess of nutrients in the sea.
- When planning your next trip, keep in mind that trains are better than planes.
- Stay away from products that harm marine species – whether it is jewellery made from red coral or face creams with shark squalene.
- Spread the word on social media about the oceans and about environmental groups such as Oceana (https://oceana.org/) or make a donation – whatever you can – to help us save the oceans for future generations. You can also join petitions or message your politicians to ask for better legislation to protect the oceans.
- Why not take part in a local beach clean-up? Or volunteer for an ocean awareness campaign? You can initiate projects within your community or simply be ready to react if you witness someone polluting the sea or damaging marine species.
So, do you have any innovative ideas on how to make our oceans more sustainable? Share in the comments.
Links to references:
https://unworldoceansday.org/2020
https://gamingfortheoceans.org/
“For each of us, then, the challenge and opportunity is to cherish all life as the gift it is, envision it whole, seek to know it truly, and undertake—with our minds, hearts and hands—to restore its abundance. It is said that where there’s life there’s hope, and so no place can inspire us with more hopefulness than that great, life-making sea—that singular, wondrous ocean covering the blue planet.”
Carl Safina
Sparsh's Blog 