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Saltwater oceans cover about 71% of the Earth's surface. Because we don't consume this water, we often forget that this ocean water is a precious resource. We ignore the need to conserve this resource as much as the Earth's other natural environments, such as the trees, air, Amazon rainforest, glaciers and the desert. People don't think about the consequences of destroying the Earth's oceans.

“The rolling of the sea across the planet creates over half our oxygen, drives weather systems and natural flows of energy and nutrients around the world, transports water masses many times greater than all the rivers on land combined, and keeps the Earth habitable. Without the global ocean there would be no life on Earth.” ~Greenpeace

“Coral reefs are made predominately of stony corals and supported by the limestone skeleton they excrete. These rainforests of the sea are home to a quarter of all marine fish species. In addition to the variety of marine life they support, coral reefs are also immensely beneficial to humans, buffeting coastal regions from strong waves and storms, providing millions of people with food and jobs and promoting advances in modern medicine.” ~Jennifer Horton, HowStuffWorks.com

Oceans do impact on people - on our food, jobs and weather. People populate less than 30% of the Earth's surface, but we affect the entire planet by leaching toxins into the soil and dumping our waste, oil and gasoline into the oceans.

Let's pause for a moment to reflect on this. We live on less than 30% of the planet and we're outnumbered by pretty much every other living thing on Earth-plants, fish, marine mammals, land animals, birds, insects, reptiles. Yet, we humans are doing a thorough job in destroying the natural homes and habitat of all these other creatures. It seems that the human race has a misguided conviction that we have some kind of divine and superior right to encompass the Earth's surface and use up resources that can never be replaced.

“[It is] immoral to damage needlessly a remote and largely unknown assemblage of organisms—even if they are out-of-sight, out-of-mind, and apparently of little importance to the general ecological processes in the ocean—through negligent and ignorant abuse of the oceans.” ~Martin Angel, “Ocean Trench Conservation”, 1982

If People Destroy the Oceans, We Destroy Not Only Ourselves But Other Innocent Lives. What Can We Do To Stop This?

It's essential to publicize the need to conserve our oceans. It's also necessary to take action rather than just talking about it - if talking worked politicians and lobbyists would have fixed the problem a long time ago. We need to take action now and make a real difference to the future of our oceans.

Organizations such as Greenpeace are doing a lot of good things for ocean conservation, but they can't solve the problems alone. People like you need to take accountability and make changes in your life to help preserve the oceans. Here are some things you can do:

1 Protest against waste and trash being dumped into the oceans. Oceans are self-managing ecosystems, but they can't do this with all the rubbish being poured into them each day.
2 Support marine conservation areas and steer clear of protected nesting areas.
3 Reduce household pollutants, and use natural products where you can. Remember: What leaks into the soil eventually finds its way to our water supply.
4 Air pollution also damages our oceans. So reduce the pollutants that end up in the air by car-pooling or riding a bike as much as possible.
5 Use paper instead of plastic.
6 Reuse and recycle.

It's your responsibility as much as anyone's to keep our oceans healthy for the next generation to enjoy.