Ocean threats are one of the leading issues in the sustainability movement. Human activities have been threatening the health of our oceans for several years. 80% or more of marine pollution can be attributed to human and land activities. This started with the industrialization era, and the ocean has absorbed 90% of heat from human created warming.
Entire marine ecosystems are changing rapidly, and will be destroyed if our society continues to disregard the ocean and its importance. Some examples of human activities that have threatened marine life include overfishing, pollution, and ocean warming.
Global warming has severe consequences for our earth. It causes sea levels to rise, which threatens coastal cities/ areas. Factories dump their sewage into the ocean, oil spills pollute oceans, pesticides from agriculture farming end up in the ocean, and air pollution are a few examples of factors that have created a disruption of ecological balance within the ocean.
It seems that profit has been a priority over protecting the wildlife that comes from within our ocean. For example, tourism can be a big threat to coastal regions. Natural regions become destroyed and in its place, big corporations/ hotels are built.
This idea is very important to me because there are devastating effects that many don’t realize. I love the ocean and everything in it, and I don’t want to see it destroyed. I love the quote “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children” by Ralph Emerson. This quote is something that sticks with me, as we need to protect the earth for future generations. We all need to lower our carbon footprint however we can, and there needs to be new legislation in place to prevent things like overfishing and depleting the fish supply. There are many new innovative ways that the world should start implementing. Check out “What’s Good for the Ocean May Also Be Good for Business” (Tuesday, March 23, 2021, Currents) on the NYT website. The article, it outlines new innovative ways like LED lights that flash for fishing nets, which can reduce the amount of waste and unwanted species when fishing. Overall, I want to contribute to preventing any worsening of this issue and I hope as a community we get better in regards to the problems facing the ocean.