Humanity in deep waters

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Humanity in deep waters

Sunday, 12 June 2022 | Chitrangada Saikia

Only about 7 per cent of the ocean is protected. Latest research reveals that for the preservation of marine life, increased supply of food and reduced carbon emissions, we urgently need to save 30 per cent of the oceans  

The terrible spectre of climate change and its devastating consequences hang over the world. It is the biggest health threat humanity is facing. As oceans cover more than 70 per cent of the planet earth’s surface, protection of the oceans is paramount in the efforts to delay or stop the unfavourable climate change.

With a view to highlighting the aspect, the World Ocean Day is celebrated on June 8 every year. The theme for the 2022 World Ocean Day “Revitalization: Collective Action for the Ocean” sheds light on the communities, ideas and solution that are working together to protect and revitalise the ocean and everything it sustains. This is once again a reminder to the international community to protect and preserve the oceanic resources. Unless we listen to the stern warnings from global bodies, sea life will perish and the whole of humanity will have to face the consequences.

The UN General Assembly officially recognised the World Ocean Day in 2008 but its actual celebration started in 2009 only. The origin of the World Ocean Day goes back to the historic Earth Summit organised in the year 1992 in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the same conference, Canada initially proposed the concept of the World Ocean Day. In the same year, an event called “Oceans Day at Global Forum: The Blue Planet” was organised by the Oceans Institute of Canada (OIC), supported by the Canadian Government. And the speaker who suggested the idea was Judith Swan, an internationally known marine jurist and Director of the OIC. Thus, this year marks the 30th anniversary of the World Ocean Day. The main motto behind the World Ocean Day is to spread awareness to protect the planet earth throughout the year.

Again, this day is a part of the worldwide movement to save the world’s 30 per cent of the land, water and ocean by the year 2030. This day directly supports the efforts towards the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the UN in the year 2015. These SDGs (also called Agenda 2030) are a collection of 17 interlinked goals to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all by the end of 2030.

The oceans are home to approximately 700,000 to one million species. Also, the oceans contain more than 97 per cent of the world’s water. It is the largest ecosystem on earth. It is the life support system of the planet earth. Hence, the ocean is extremely vital for the survival and sustainability of not only the lives in it but also for humans as well. These oceans produce more than half of the oxygen of this beautiful planet.

When we talk about ocean conservation, generally animals like sharks, whales, and turtles have taken the centre-stage of almost all the ocean protection movements and awareness campaigns. For decades, we are trying to protect and preserve them all as they are facing grave threats to lives along with millions of other species. But we all simply ignore the fact that human beings are also equally relying on a healthy ocean for their survival.

Most of the 3 billion humans who earn their livelihood from the rich oceans, belong to the Global South. It consists of the agrarian economies of Africa, Latin America, India, China and other areas of the world. However, the term Global South is a dynamic concept which is not restricted to geographic boundaries. Therefore, the countries that reach a certain level of development may easily cross over to the Global North. It is clear that the developing countries of the Global South are highly dependent on the rich ocean resources for their life and

living.

Today, the ocean is under constant pressure from intense pollution, over-fishing, unsustainable development and finally from massive climate change. The carbon emissions from human activities lead to ocean warming, acidification and oxygen loss, according to latest reports released by the UN. Our oceans directly absorb 90 per cent of the heat released by the greenhouse gases.

The pollutants found in the oceans are life-threatening for humans as well. The carcinogenic microplastics have already entered our food chain. And these toxic contaminants pose a major health risk for all humans around the world. So we are at imminent risk from the degradation of marine life today.

Another perilous aspect is that each year at least 8 million tonnes of plastic waste gathers in the oceans. Further the situation is aggravated by the dumping of huge amounts of poisonous chemicals and human waste in these oceans. The worst part of the ocean pollution is that all the man-made wastes go deep down to the ocean bed and severely affect marine life and their surrounding habitat.

Over the years, over-fishing in many parts of the world is causing serious damage to marine lives. Because commercial level exploitation of the fish reserves is mainly carried out by huge nets, theses destroy other marine lives in the sea beds. Therefore, trawling and dredging are an imminent threat to marine ecosystems.

Recently, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed nearly eight marine species as “critically endangered species” and they may face high risk of extinction in future. These species are great hammerhead shark, European eel, sunflower sea star, angel shark, scalloped hammerhead, oceanic white tip shark, North Atlantic right whale, and Nassau grouper. These are a few species that are facing threat today, but many more will be added to the list for sure. The marine ecosystem is very sensitive to outside influence.

The ocean economy contributes nearly $1.5 trillion in value to the global economy. Interestingly, it offers food and livelihood to about 3 billion people across the globe. It supports huge employment opportunities in the areas of tourism, fishing and transportation. So far studies show that around 80 per cent of marine pollution comes from the land in different forms of pollutants, mostly from man-made activities. However, plastic pollutants pose the biggest threat. In fact, the list of such pollutants keeps on increasing each day starting from industrial chemicals, sewage, pesticides and other garbage, including the e-wastes released in the oceans across the globe.

Currently, only about 7 per cent of the ocean is protected. Latest research reveals that for the preservation of marine life, increased supply of food and reduced carbon emissions, we urgently need to save 30 per cent of the oceans.

Our incredible ocean must be protected. It is time to act. Protecting the oceans means protecting the people. Ocean conservation is key to our survival. The fact remains that consistent increase in the number of pollutants has led to the degradation of water bodies to the point of no return. It is true that major steps are already being taken. The UN and its allied agencies with a host of international NGOs and civil society organisations are making serious efforts to prevent damage to the marine environment. Hope environmental justice would be given to all the marine lives and humans by other humans in the days to come. Finally, with the celebration of the World Ocean Day this year, we all need to commit to ourselves that we will not exploit the oceans anymore to threaten the marine ecosystem.

 

(The writer is a young environmental conservationist)

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