our incredible oceans

5 curious things  about our seas

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You don't want You don't wait You don't love,  But you don't hate. n

❝

Lyric from "Only the Ocean" by Jack Johnson,  singer and ocean advocate

You just roll  over me And you pull  me in.n

The ocean regulates the climate and weather

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It absorbs 93% of the excess heat caused by climate change, protecting us from the worst impacts.

14ºC

50ºC

NOW

WITHOUT OCEAN

Average temperature of Earth

This has come at great cost to the health of the ocean – a warming, acidifying and chemically imbalanced ocean is less able to deliver its vital ecosystems services.

Between 2009 and 2018, we lost about 14% of coral worldwide, mostly from recurring, large-scale bleaching events.

We must plant the sea and herd its animals using the sea as farmers instead of hunters. 

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Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Oceanographer

Humans are entirely dependent on the ocean

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The ocean provides food and livelihoods for billions of people across the globe.

40 million people live from ocean-related activities.   

That is more than 4 times the population of London

Most resources the ocean provides humans are things we take for granted, like oxygen to breathe and water to drink and grow food with.

  And certain medicines come from the ocean too. 

Chemicals found on coral reefs have been found to help patients fight cancer and other diseases, including heart disease and Alzheimer’s .

We need to do everything in our power to protect and restore what we can—as if our lives depend on it. 

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Silvia Earle  Oceanographer

Because they do. 

The ocean is home to the vast majority of animals

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78% of all animal  biomass lives in it.

What’s more, scientists have estimated that 91% of the ocean’s species have yet to even be classified. 

Elvis worms have evolved to tolerate low oxygen levels by having elaborate gills under their scales. They were classified by this name in 2020 because of its colors and exoskeleton resembling Elvis Presley jumpsuits.

The great thing about having so much plant and animal life underwater, is that it makes the ocean the planet's largest carbon sink. 

Buffering the impacts of global warmings

It absorbs 30% of carbon dioxide produced by humans.

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It creates 50% of the planet’s oxygen.

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You cannot have a healthy planet without a healthy ocean. 

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Peter Thomsom  UN Special Envoy for the Ocean

Over 80% of the ocean remains unexplored

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The deepest explored place in the ocean known so far is the Mariana Trench. It is deeper than any mountain on Earth is tall, including the legendary Mount Everest.

36,000 feet

That depth is the equivalent to the height an aircraft flies in the air.

Or 21 times the height of  the tallest tower in NYC.

Investment in space exploration

Investment in ocean exploration

However, the ocean may hold the answers to some of our greatest challenges.

Understand climate changes

Find new sources of food and energy

Discover new disease-fighting medicines

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The quickest way to destroy ocean science is to take human explorers out of the water. 

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James Cameron Filmmaker,  author of a documentary about the journey to the deepest part of the ocean. 

There is only one ocean

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Although the ocean is divided into five regions — the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic and Southern Oceans — it is actually one body of water that connects globally. 

Thus, what happens to the ocean in one location can ultimately have an impact anywhere else ...

... whether it’s negative, like a toxic oil spill, or positive, like reducing pollution or the creation of a marine protected area that allows marine life to recover.

Let's take care of the ocean

Credits Pictures and text:  Ocean Image Bank -  The Ocean Agency Design and edition:  Conchi Gil