Ocean, heart of our planet, going into ‘cardiac arrest’

WE cannot survive without the ocean. It is the heart of the planet.

Water covers more than two-thirds of Earth’s surface. Sea plants produce 70% of the oxygen we breathe, and the deep waters are home to wildlife including some of the biggest creatures on the planet. It provides us with food, jobs, life, entertainment, and the sport of sailing.

The ocean produces more oxygen than the Amazon. Although it is often thought that rainforests are the primary source of oxygen on the planet, in reality, they are responsible for only 28%, while the ocean provides 70%. Out of every 10 breaths we take, seven come from the ocean, irrespective of our distance from it.

In many ways, the ocean regulates our climate. It soaks up heat and transports warm water from the equator to the poles, and cold water from the poles to the tropics. Without these currents, the weather would be extreme in some regions, and fewer places would be habitable.

The ocean regulates rain and droughts. Holding 97% of our planet’s water, almost all rain that falls onto land comes from the sea. The ocean absorbs carbon dioxide to keep the carbon cycle and Earth’s temperature in balance. It is like our global climate control system.

All the creatures that live in the ocean play an essential role in the trophic chain of the ecosystems. Due to climate change, the ocean has been warming and losing oxygen, and its pH decreasing. This causes a great disturbance and imbalance to the habitat of our sea life. We must remember that the ocean is home to 300,000 species, a home to ocean lovers, and also, home to the greatest abundance of life on our planet.

The ocean is the primary source of protein for more than a billion people. Fish accounts for 15.7% of the animal protein consumed globally, although not everything is fish and seafood. Considering that the world population grows by 1.5 million people every week, we are relying on the ocean more and more for survival, and we need alternative and nutritious food sources like seaweed.

Also, besides providing jobs to sailors, fishermen and islanders, the ocean is a transport zone, too. It carries us to new lands, and connects us with nature and one another. The ocean provides 60 million jobs. Recent statistics by the Food and Agriculture Organisation indicate that 59.6 million people across the globe are engaged in fisheries and aquaculture, with 90% of world trade conducted by sea.

With more than 60% of the world’s population living on coastlines, we all depend on a healthy ocean, just as much as its beautiful creatures. Antiviral drugs, like Zovirax and Acyclovir, are obtained from nucleosides isolated from Caribbean sponges, while Yondelis, developed from small, soft-bodied marine animals, was the first drug of marine origin used to fight cancer.

The ocean is therapeutic. When we see, feel, hear, smell or taste its water, we are happy and at peace. Research has shown that the so-called “blue spaces” of the ocean can directly reduce psychological stress and improve our mood. The best holidays are always close to the water. It is where we swim, surf, sail, dive, chillax and “lime”. Family holidays and Sundays are often spent on the beach. The ocean is a happy zone that we consider our temple, our life, our second home, and our spot for exhilaration.

From the greatness and goodness of the ocean, we must not overlook its great impediment: plastics. Studies have shown that on a daily basis, each minute sees a truckload of garbage – or more than eight million plastic pieces – discarded into the ocean; the 29 million metric tonnes of plastic trash flowing into the ocean yearly are expected to nearly triple by 2040. No one knows for certain the exact amount of virtually indestructible plastics that have accumulated in our seas. In 2020, the figure stood at about 245 million metric tonnes. If this continues, by 2040, we will see an increase to approximately 600 million metric tonnes. The damage we are doing to marine life and our ecosystems is becoming irreparable. Our actions over the next 10 years will determine the state of the ocean for the 10,000 years to come.

All baby sea turtles have plastics in their stomachs. – Pixabay pic, June 8, 2021

The statistics below tell you everything you need to know about the level of damage we are doing to the ocean ecosystem and marine life, and how this impacts humanity.

1. Plastic waste pollutes 88% of the ocean’s surface.

2. Every day, around eight million plastic pieces make their way into the ocean, making for between eight million and 14 million tonnes of plastics every year.

3. There are now 5.25 trillion macro and micro plastic pieces in our ocean, and 46,000 pieces in every square mile of ocean, weighing up to 269,000 tonnes.

4. Some 8.3 billion plastic straws pollute the world’s beaches, with 1% ending up as waste in the ocean.

5. By 2020, the number of plastic pieces in the ocean would have been higher than the number of fish.

6. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, located from the west coast of North America to Japan, measures some 1.6 million sq km – bigger than Texas.

7. Every year, more than a million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals die of plastic pollution.

8. All baby sea turtles have plastics in their stomachs.

9. One in three fish caught for human consumption contains plastics.

10. The world produces 381 million tonnes of plastic waste yearly; this will double by 2034.

11. Half of the abovesaid amount comprises single-use plastics, with only 9% having ever been recycled.

12. The United States contributes 38 million tonnes of plastics every year.

13. Plastic packaging is the biggest culprit, resulting in 80 million tonnes of waste in the US alone annually.

14. The United Kingdom uses over two million tonnes of plastic packaging each year.

15. On UK beaches, there are 5,000 plastic pieces and 150 plastic bottles for each mile.

16. The world uses over 500 billion plastic bags a year, or 150 for each person on Earth.

17. More than a million plastic bags end up in the trash every minute.

18. Products containing plastic microbeads are considered dangerous, with a single squeeze able to release 100,000 such beads, which are estimated to be a million times more toxic than seawater.

We need to give urgent attention to the effectiveness of our waste management in order to save the ocean. Although current collection and disposal methods reduce leakage by 55%, by 2040, the number of people requiring waste management services will approach four billion, at a cost of US$510 billion (RM2.1 trillion). Alternatively, a new study suggests that systemwide changes in our relationship with plastics could yield an 82% reduction in leakage by 2040, at a cost of around US$600 billion. However, it is unclear whether governments and industries can accept and implement these changes.

In just five short years, the ocean’s plastic pollution rocketed to the top tier of global environmental causes. It has set off several international campaigns on saving the environment, and reducing the production, use and disposal of plastic products. Meanwhile, global plastic production is on pace to increase 40% by 2030, and hundreds of billions of dollars are being invested in new plastic production plants, locking in the status quo, according to a report.

As plastics continue to flow into the ocean and more plastic products are made, it is clear that the campaigns have failed. Even if all industry and government pledges to curtail plastic waste are achieved by 2040, a study has found that they will likely reduce annual leakage into the ocean by only a tiny fraction.

Industries have promised improvements; governments have taken steps. To the world, this will be an eye-opener in realising that our current efforts alone are insufficient. The global trajectory is going in the wrong direction. There is a fundamental need to rethink how single-use plastics can be discarded.

Waste management has its role, and so does every citizen. Enforcement and education have their respective roles, too, and compassion and conscientiousness, an even greater one. We can penalise, imprison and castigate offenders, but this will have either little impact or none at all when it comes to ending the problem at hand.

Nature never fails in its responsibility to provide us with what we need to survive. It is the human race that takes for granted what nature provides, overusing or misusing its provisions and beauty for selfish reasons. We are going to deplete our resources through our unquenchable desires, wants and lusts.

Let us appreciate and treasure the ocean, which is our life bank, our life needs, and our life in all needs. – The Vibes, June 8, 2021