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Oceans and Human Health

“Healthy, vibrant oceans are essential for human health and well-being.”

A surprising statement? If so, it is only because we have come to view oceans as the mystery beyond, perhaps a luxurious place to visit, or the base of livelihood for only a few. But healthy oceans are essential for all life on the planet, and human well-being everywhere.

Archive

Freshwater to Oceans

The effect of land-based human activities is the most important driver of marine pollution and impact on marine ecosystems and coastal and marinedependent economies. The UNEP-Global Programme of Action (GPA) estimates that about 80% of the pollution load in the oceans originates from land-based activities, which threaten health, productivity, and biodiversity of the marine environment.

Global Forum on Oceans, Coasts and Islands

The 4th Global Conference on Oceans, Coasts and Islands brings analyses and perspectives from all ocean sectors and areas of the world to focus on tangible steps to advance ecosystem management by 2010 and examines the current trends in integrated coastal and ocean management. The conference results will be relayed to various organs of the United Nations, presented at the UN Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and Law of the Sea, and be broadly disseminated to governments, civil society, and industry and scientific groups throughout the world.

Climate Change and Oceans

Global climate and the world ocean are inexorably linked. This is not merely because the ocean’s ecosystems, like all others on earth, are affected by climate changes, but also because it is the oceans that drive planetary climate and weather.

Changing climate changes the marine environment, but so too does a changing marine environment contribute to global climate change.

Coral Reefs

Coral reefs are often referred to as the rainforests of the sea. Given their immense biodiversity, confined to relatively little space, perhaps the reference should really be the other way around: rainforests are the coral reefs of the land!

At the level of phyla—the broadest taxonomic organization in the kingdom of animals (kingdoms being the major groupings of animals, plants, fungi and protists)—coral reefs harbor 33 of the 38 known animal phyla—more than any other ecosystem on the planet.

Ocean Energy

Some look to the ocean and take in seascapes that calm the mind and soothe the senses, while others see a bounty of living resources and biodiversity. The oceans have supported great societies and civilizations, and have been the setting for innumerable historical events. But more and more, people are looking to the sea for something the land is increasingly unable to provide at the levels we demand: energy.

Sea Turtles

What is it about sea turtles? How are they able to move us so deeply, perhaps more than any other marine creature?

Sea turtle are at once emblematic flagships for the oceans, and umbrella species whose conservation requires the preservation of intact habitats ranging from tropical nesting beaches to sub-Arctic foraging grounds.

International Polar Year

International Polar Year 2007-2008 will mark a major leap in our understanding and appreciation of polar ecosystems

IPY is a joint program of the International Union of Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) involving thousands of scientists from over 60 countries who will conduct more than 150 physical, biological and social sciences research studies in the Arctic and Antarctic. It has focused the scientific community on cooperative research, synthesis of findings, and communication of information in ways that are unprecedented.

Exporting Pollution

That the oceans are a repository for all sorts of human-derived wastes is something most people know something about, given the striking images in the media of debris-laden waterways, syringes washing ashore on beaches, and plastic entangling seals, turtles, and birds. But using oceans to rid waste occurs in more subtle, and infinitely more damaging ways. Here we focus on three ways that countries export pollution, whether deliberately or inadvertently, and consequences for marine ecosystems worldwide.

Cities and Oceans

Over half the global population now lives in cities. Urban development is increasing. As people move to the cities they dramatically increase their consumption of products and services, using more natural resources, generating more waste, using more energy.

High Seas Fisheries

The deep sea covers over 90% of the ocean bottom and mostly lies beyond 200 nautical miles from shore. These dark ocean depths teem with rich and diverse sea life, most of which remains undiscovered.

For the fishing industry, advances in fishing technologies has meant the unreachable is now within reach. The damaging effects of human activities from bottom trawling to pollution can now be seen in every ocean.

Ocean Acidification

Ocean acidification describes the ongoing decrease in the pH of the Earth’s oceans, caused by their uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Anthropogenic effects or processes are those derived from human activities, as opposed to effects or processes that occur in the natural environment without human influences.

Between 1751 and 2004 surface ocean pH is estimated to have dropped from 8.25 to 8.14. While the full ecological consequences of these changes are still uncertain, it appears likely that calcifying species will be adversely affected.