TO raise awareness about the immeasurable importance of our oceans and coasts, World Ocean Day is observed June 8 of each year. The day gives us all an opportunity to appreciate what the oceans mean to us, what they have to offer, and how we would like them to be generations from today.
Oceans cover almost three quarters of the earth’s surface, contain nine tenths of its water resources, and are home to 97 percent of life on earth. They affect the health and survival of life, power the earth’s climate, and are an essential part of the biosphere. Even as only 30 percent of the ocean’s secrets are known, without the oceans there would be no life on earth.
As a vital economic source, they provide jobs to 36 million in fisheries and aquaculture production alone. Tons of fish are captured globally. Approximately 90 percent of international trade is transported by sea while over 29 percent of the total production of oil comes from the oceans. Coastal recreational activities and the cruise industry are an important source of revenue for a number of countries. Scientists look to the seas as the source of future scientific discoveries and resources. For centuries, the freedom of the sea doctrine guided all uses of the ocean, but by the mid-1960’s technological advances in navigation, fishing techniques, ocean exploration, and global population expansion had altered man’s access to and use of the seas, resulting in tensions among nations over conflicting claims to the oceans and its resources.
Adding to the problems of the once pristine sea wilderness is pollution derived from land-based activities, threatening the health of the coastal areas which are the most productive areas of the marine environment. Among the other threats to the oceans are the overexploitation of marine living resources, physical alteration and destruction of marine habitats, destructive fishing practices, oil spills, sewage, and sea dumping. With the oceans being exploited as never before, nations have come together to take measures to preserve the marine environment and ensure the sustainable use of ocean resources through extensive scientific research.
Oceans shape every aspect of our lives – from our work and play, the climate and weather we experience, to what we eat. Let us work together to protect the oceans and coastal zones, and to ensure that all people enjoy a sustainable future.
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