A Healthy Ocean is a Happy Ocean
- wildlifepreservati2
- Apr 18, 2019
- 2 min read
How healthy is our ocean?
The ocean is a massive 71 percent of our planet. That means we as a human race have the power to destroy it easily with our many pollutants we have created.
According to Live Science, scientists have given the world’s oceans a grade of 60 out of 100. If this were a class, we would be on the edge of failing. This ranking was determined by a list of ten of factors which are food provision, artisanal fishing, natural products, carbon storage, costal protection, costal livelihoods and economies, tourism and recreation, clean waters, biodiversity and sense of place. A description of each category can be found on the website linked at the bottom of the post.
How does it affect humans?
Some people may think that ocean health is unimportant, especially if they don’t live near an ocean. Well, it actually is more important than you would think. According to National Ocean Service, one in six U.S. jobs are marine related. Oceans are very important to the economy of many countries. Between fishing, boating, tourism, ocean transportation, shipping goods and so much more.
Beaches are a popular destination for tourists, and coastal areas depend on 85 percent of revenue on tourism alone. This means keep up of clean oceans need to be met in order to keep tourism in those areas.
The Great Lakes supply more than 40 million people with drinking water. Huge bodies of water also serve as climate regulators, and can provide, medicines and compounds.
How does it affect the sea creatures?
According to The United Nations Foundation, Ocean acidification is something that occurs when the ocean absorbs the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. The oceans today are about 30 percent more acidic than they were before the industrial revolution. This is going to have a negative impact on the marine animals and ecosystems living in the ocean. For example, it can dissolve she shells of oysters, clams and other types of species.
So, believe it or not, the ocean is a huge part of what we rely on for our existence as well as many other creatures including marine animals, birds and more! With pollution and climate change we are going to be hit with a rude awakening if we don’t do something to change our habits soon.
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