Water in turquoise blue always reflects the beauty of planet Earth, creating a mesmerizing picture in front of our eyes. According to William Wordsworth, “Ocean is a mighty harmonist” and that is convincing as oceans always calm down our souls.
Today; World Oceans Day, many people pay attention and talk about the fate of blue water on the earth’s surface. The current state of oceans is getting worse day by day and that is far away from what nature expects. We must do something about this as soon as possible as we do not know what plight we will have to endure if not.
The purpose of World Oceans Day is to inform people of the impact of human actions on the ocean, develop a worldwide movement of citizens for the ocean, and mobilize and unite the world’s population on a project for the sustainable management of the world’s oceans.
The theme for 2020 is “Innovation for a sustainable ocean”. Ocean sustainability refers to an approach to manage oceans and the services they provide. According to UN estimates, “Over 3 billion people depend on marine and coastal resources for their livelihoods”. Oceans indeed serve as key contributors to the global economy in various ways. But the question is, whether mankind is ready to return the favor?
With the rapidly growing human population, overconsumption of marine resources has been taking place. Due to the rise of certain anthropogenic activities like pollution, over-fishing etc., the quality of marine life and water has now been degraded. Pollution is constantly being pumped into oceans making them inconvenient for marine organisms while over-fishing offers a threat to biodiversity. These malpractices should be controlled immediately with more innovative and extensive solutions to ensure the ocean’s sustainability.
Certain organizations and institutes are currently working hard to bring some innovative solutions that can address most of the issues raised by these matters. Georgia Tech is one of such institutes that has developed the Social-Ecological-Environmental Systems (SEES) approach. This explores the interactions between human systems and the different dimensions of the natural system. They have also come up with researches and solutions regarding ecosystem services, ocean energy, sustainable planning, and the development of coasts.
It’s important to emphasize that conservation of oceans is not only a duty of such organizations and discussions. Thoughts and actions focused on this matter should not be limited to a single day like today.
Since oceans do so much for mankind, all of us have the sole responsibility to use marine services and resources, without compromising the ability of future generations from using them.
So be wise. Conservation of these large water bodies is a current necessity otherwise, these will vanish in a few decades.
Spread the word! Nurture the oceans!!!
References:
https://www.un.org/en/events/oceansday/index.shtml
https://ocean.gatech.edu/research/ocean-sustainability
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