Let's celebrate World Ocean Day 2015
1. The Ocean and its amazing creatures have inspired cultures and traditions across the world. Legends, myths, stories, works of art testify throughout the
history of respect and admiration that humans
pay to the marine world today helped by
modern science.
2. The Ocean has a value in itself. Humanity could
not survive without a healthy Ocean. Our
Planet Earth itself would not be the same without
it. Plant life in the Ocean produces every second breath we take.
3. However, the abusive exploitation of marine resources, excessive and destructive fishing have degenerated marine ecosystems on an unprecedented scale. After years of industrial overfishing, the abundance of many big marine species is only a very small fraction of what it used to be.
4. The Ocean has absorbed already much of the CO2 human activities have released into the atmosphere and which provokes climate change. This assault on its integrity provokes its waters to become warmer and acidified.
5. All kinds of waste – nuclear, plastic, pesticides, land-based nutrients, other harmful chemicals and litter - is thrown mercilessly into the Ocean and thus degrades both marine and human life.
6. As a result of this violence, the Ocean is losing its capacity to sustain many species, including those directly providing food and medicines for us. Dead zones without oxygen are on the increase.
7. Climate change in the form of warming also has major negative impacts on polar ice caps, glaciers, marine biodiversity and coastal populations that once lived in harmony with nature.
8. And the Ocean is also the tragic scene of armed clashes, wars and desperate migration, aggravating the ecological damage and trampling human dignity.
9. Why is this? Can we imagine to stop the slaughter and the destruction? Can we all together change course, restore the Ocean e.g. through networks of large Marine Protected Areas and to stop the catch of babyfish?
10. We believe that together, with the concern and determination of the citizens of the world, we can! We need our dreams, the best scientific knowledge publicly available and moral purpose to achieve this feat. We are all called to restore and protect the Ocean. We hope our collective efforts will be great enough to take care of this Life Support System, for present and future generations and Planet Earth as a whole.