More than three billion people in the world depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods and more than 200 million work in marine fisheries directly or indirectly / CJ GUNTHER / efe
The oceans are, as the UN explains, the lungs of our planet, an important source of food and medicine and a fundamental part of the biosphere. The figures give an idea of its importance: they account for more than 70 percent of the surface and contain more than 97 percent of the planet’s water; they produce at least 50 percent of the oxygen and are home to most of the biodiversity (around 80 percent).
These large masses of salt water also buffer the impacts of global warming by acting as carbon sinks. They absorb about 30 percent of the carbon dioxide that we humans produce. They concentrate a great diversity of marine ecosystems with thousands of animal and plant species essential for an ecological balance to exist. There are about 200,000 identified species of the marine world, although there could be millions, since we only know between 5 and 7 percent of the oceans.
On the other hand, more than three billion people in the world depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods and more than 200 million work in marine fisheries directly or indirectly. In addition, the oceans have been and are vital means of trade and transportation; and currently they are also for tourism. In short, the oceans not only act as the lungs of the Earth, they also mitigate the effects of climate change, produce food, jobs, minerals, energy resources… They give us a lot, and at the same time they are in danger as a result of human activities .
Landfill, Overfishing, Climate Change
On this Environment Day and on the eve of Oceans Day (June 8), images of blue oceans and coral reefs will be seen on television and social networks along with others of dead fish, plastic islands or melting glaciers. And they will hit with the data on the damage suffered by our oceans and the threats they face: overfishing that devastates the seabed, pollution, climate change…
Waste, toxic spills, oil, and huge amounts of plastics continually reach the sea that seriously damage marine ecosystems, causing the extinction of thousands of plants and animals. In fact, it is estimated that 90 percent of large marine fish species are already depleted and 50 percent of coral reefs destroyed. Also, increased carbon emissions are making ocean water more acidic. An increase in water temperature is also observed, which affects salinity and ocean currents and influences weather patterns and sea level. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the oceans have risen an average of 4.5 millimeters per year between 2013 and 2021, more than twice as much as in the previous 20 years.
The Plastic We Eat
The oceans receive, according to the UN, between 8 and 13 million tons of plastic waste per year, a figure that could triple by 2040. Many of these plastics roam the sea, break down and end up becoming microplastics (less than 5 millimeters) which are ingested by fish and small organisms. In this way, the plastic enters the food chain and even reaches our table. The result, according to several studies, is that we eat and drink microplastics up to a total of five grams a week, the equivalent of the weight of a credit card.
But, in addition to those microplastics that we do not see but eat, there is also a huge amount of plastic wandering through the oceans for years and that has given rise to immense islands of garbage. There are five particularly large ones, two in the Pacific, two in the Atlantic and one in the Indian Ocean. The largest of them is located in the North Pacific, between Hawaii and California, and it is estimated that it has an extension equivalent to Spain, France and Germany combined.
GOAL 14
“Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development” is number 14 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda, which the United Nations General Assembly approved in 2015.
Since then, many warnings have been issued about the deterioration of our oceans and initiatives have also been launched that seek to stop it, among them those that have to do with the so-called “blue carbon” (that which is stored by marine and coastal ecosystems, which come to capture up to four times more CO2 than forests) and the “blue economy” (which promotes growth while preserving marine ecosystems), or the proposal for an international agreement that extends protection to 30 percent of the marine surface in 2030.
In 2017, the First Conference on the Oceans was held in New York, the first of the United Nations on this matter, which highlighted the urgency of addressing marine pollution, warming and overfishing. The next World Conference was scheduled for 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic forced it to be delayed. In fact, it will be celebrated in a few days, from June 27 to July 1, in Lisbon.
The year 2022 is also part of the UN Decade of Ocean Sciences and has been declared by the United Nations as the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture. This year the theme of World Oceans Day is “Revitalization: Collective Action for the Ocean”.
Waste
Waste, toxic spills, oil, and huge amounts of plastics continually reach the sea that seriously damage marine ecosystems, causing the extinction of thousands of plants and animals. In fact, it is estimated that 90 percent of large marine fish species are already depleted and 50 percent of coral reefs destroyed.