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| Saving our Oceans |
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| Written by Laurence |
| Monday, 02 March 2009 13:42 |
 Over the last 100 years 90% of the big fish in our oceans have gone. 50% of coral reefs are now dead. We are killing our oceans and that could lead to the extermination of human life.
Oceans are a fundamental part of our life, whether we live and work near them or not. The majority of the oxygen we breathe is generated under water. Ocean currents make many parts of the world liveable - without healthy sustainable oceans we cannot hope to have a thriving human race. Sylvia Earle is an ocean explorer who has worked for National Geographic and as Chief Scientist of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. She won a TED conference prize in 2009 for her desire to save the world's oceans. Oceans, according to Dr Earle, are the world's "Life Support Systems". During her speech at this year's TED she made the parallel between astronauts needing to take care of their environment and human beings taking care of theirs by quoting NASA astronaut Joseph P. Allen: "I must learn everything I can about the life support system [on a spacecraft] to take care of it the best I can." Sea life works in an ecosystem that balances oxygen and nitrogen cycles. By disturbing and massively disrupting these ecosystems we risk terrible consequences for the natural cycles that are essential for human life. Yet our oceans today are still being treated as a limitless resource that can have fish removed at an industrial rate and tons and tons of rubbish dumped into it. For every pound of fish brought to market 12 to 100 pounds are discarded and dumped back to sea. Plastic, chemical and marine waste is killing many sea creatures. We have to understand that there are limits to what we can take out of our oceans and what we can dump into it.  Dr Earle believes that there is hope however. Today there are 4000 marine wildlife sanctuaries around the globe representing less than a fraction of 1% of the total surface of the world's oceans. Dr Earle believes that these are key to the survival of our seas and the ecosystems that exist in them. By vastly increasing the number of these protected areas, we may be able to help the remaining 10% of big fish survive and prosper for the future. A Zen life means reducing our impact on the world's seas through, for example, eating less or no marine life and caring about the waste that we leave behind. Dr Earle's TED Prize acceptance speech:          |
| Last Updated on Sunday, 10 January 2010 22:18 |
