7 Reasons Why You Should Care About the Oceans

This is the first post of my Marine Biology Monday series! Every Monday I will share interesting, important and current information about the world's oceans, and I thought it would be perfect to start this series on World Oceans Day! In this blog post, I want to talk about why you should care about the oceans.

Simply put, the ocean is our future.

1. They are the lungs of our planet

The oceans provide the oxygen we breathe and take in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In fact, the oceans absorb ~1/3 of the total carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere via anthropogenic activities, such as cement manufacturing and burning fossil fuels (1).

2. They regulate our climate and weather patterns all around the world

This uptake of carbon dioxide is one example of how the oceans regulate our climate. The ability of the oceans to serve as an enormous thermal mass for heat storage is another example of how the oceans are buffering the impacts of global warming. Furthermore, the oceans are a vast reservoir of open water which drives the hydrologic cycle, and without this, the earth would quickly become a desert. So, the oceans make the climate on Earth suitable for human life (2)!

3. They provide the food we eat

Did you know that the oceans serve as the world’s largest source of protein? More than 3 billion people depend on the oceans as their primary source of protein (3).

4. They provide us with medicine

Our health is closely connected with the 'health' of the oceans because the diversity of species found in our oceans provide a huge potential for the development of pharmaceuticals and natural products to combat illnesses and improve our quality of life. The deep ocean has already given us compounds to treat cancer, inflammation, and nerve damage. You might be surprised to know that the ocean depths have provided us with tools to diagnose pandemics such as AIDS and SARS. Recently, an enzyme isolated from a microbe found at extreme depths of the ocean in marine hydrothermal vents, as well as freshwater hot springs, have been used to speed up the detection of COVID-19 (4).

5. They are economically important

The oceans are a critical part of the biosphere, contributing ∼60% of the total economic value of the biosphere. They have been estimated to contribute ~21 trillion US$/year to human welfare, with ∼60% of this from coastal and shelf systems and the other 40% from the open ocean (2). In addition, we rely on the oceans for transporting ~80% of global trade (5) and over 3 billion people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods (6).

6. They improve our quality of life

The oceans have been a unifying element in cultures of many coastal countries. We use the oceans for recreation, from surfing to scuba diving. It also makes us feel calm and relaxed, in what is commonly known as the 'blue state of mind', where our brains are able to relax from the over stimulation of city life and take in the simple audio and visual cues of the ocean.

7. But, the oceans are not only important for humans

The ocean covers 71% of the Earth's surface but accounts for 99% of all of the living space on our planet (2). ~2 million of the world's known species exist within the oceans (7), and many more species could still wait to be discovered!

However, human activities are threatening the oceans.

The oceans are one of humanity's most important natural resources, providing us with so many things, as mentioned above. While people have lived in harmony with the ocean for generations and have relied on its bounty, in recent years, we have treated the oceans as a limitless and open access resource, which can be exploited by anyone with the means. Pollution, invasive species, overfishing, tourism, shipping, extractive industries and climate change, to name but a few, are some examples of human activities threatening the health of marine habitats and species, and subsequently our fundamental life-support system (8). Now, we have reached the point where we need to start protecting the oceans and utilising and governing them in a more sustainable way.

This is why this years theme for the UN World Oceans Day is all about 'Innovation for a Sustainable Ocean'. This marks the lead-up to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (which will run from 2021 to 2030) which aims to strengthen international cooperation in order to develop the scientific research and innovative technologies and ideas needed to protect our shared Ocean, whilst simultaneously meeting the needs of society.

It is essential that we become a worldwide movement of citizens for the ocean which we love, respect and protect. As the Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres said: this COVID-19 pandemic is a stark reminder of how intimately linked we all are to each other and to nature. As we work to end this pandemic, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and a responsibility, to build back better and to correct our relationship with the world’s oceans.

You can take action this world oceans day:

• Today, you can sign the 30x30 petition, which is calling on world leaders to protect 30% of the blue planet by 2030.

• You could also sign up to your local wildlife trust and help them protect the oceans.

I hope that in this blog post, I have convinced you about how important the oceans are, and why it is therefore essential we protect them!

Sending out love,

NJB x

References

1. Sabine, C.L., Feely, R.A., Gruber, N., Key, R.M., Lee, K., Bullister, J.L., Wanninkhof, R., Wong, C.S.L., Wallace, D.W., Tilbrook, B. and Millero, F.J., 2004. The oceanic sink for anthropogenic CO2. Science, [online] 305(5682), pp.367-371. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1097403

2. Costanza, R., 1999. The ecological, economic, and social importance of the oceans.Ecological economics, [online] 31(2), pp.199-213. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8009(99)00079-8

3. FAO. 2014. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture. Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, Food and Agriculture Organization, Rome, Italy.

4. Journals.asm.org. 2020.COVID 19 Special Collection | ASM Journals. [online] Available at: https://journals.asm.org/content/covid-19 [Accessed 8 June 2020].

5. Richardson, M., 2004. A time bomb for global trade: maritime-related terrorism in an age of weapons of mass destruction. Maritime Studies, [online], 2004(134), pp.1-8. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/07266472.2004.10878730

6. United Nations Sustainable Development. 2020.Oceans. [online] Available at: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/oceans/#:~:text=Over%20three%20billion%20people%20depend,per%20cent%20of%20global%20GDP.&text=Coastal%20waters%20are%20deteriorating%20due%20to%20pollution%20and%20eutrophication. [Accessed 8 June 2020].

7. Mora, C., Tittensor, D.P., Adl, S., Simpson, A.G. and Worm, B., 2011. How many species are there on Earth and in the ocean?. [online]. PLoS biology,9(8). Available at: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001127

8. WWF. 2015. Living Blue Planet Report. Species, habitats and human well-being. [Tanzer, J., Phua, C., Lawrence, A., Gonzales, A., Roxburgh, T. and P. Gamblin (Eds)]. WWF, Gland, Switzerland. Available at: https://assets.wwf.org.uk/downloads/living_blue_planet_report_2015.pdf

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