Today, almost 25% of marine mammals include whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, sea lions, walruses, sea otter, marine otter, manatees, dugong and the polar bear, are threatened with extinction. The health of our world’s oceans are in serious jeopardy. Marine species are vulnerable to threats such as climate change, pollution, habitat destruction and overexploitation.
The populations of many species are decreasing at alarming rates, and the number of species listed as endangered or critically endangered keeps rising. According to Smithsonian, from snails to whales, . Of the species that are listed, approximately 150 of them live in the ocean in U.S. waters, and some are considered closer to extinction than others. Many species of sea turtles, sharks, whales, manatees and sawfish are endangered and in most cases its not predators that are causing the decline, it's humans.
The Earth’s climate is changing at a rate that is unprecedented over tens of thousands of years. The current warming trend is significantly affecting the marine environment - warming seawater temperatures, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and changes in currents, upwelling and weather patterns – all having the potential to cause fundamental changes in the nature and character of our marine and coastal ecosystems.
Fish populations have and continue too plummet in every ocean due to overfishing and destructive fishing techniques. Each year, over a million seabirds, turtles and marine mammals suffer terrible deaths by irresponsible fishing practices and plastic polution.. Commercial whaling has severely depleted whale populations, driving some species to the brink of extinction. Coral reefs have existed on our planet for over 50 million years, but in the last 20 years we have lost nearly 45% of ocean reefs. Ocean noise from shipping, industrial extraction, marine construction and military activities is negatively affecting whales and dolphins including their ability to find food, mate, navigate, avoid predators and take care of their young.
And then, there is the ever-increasing plastic problem. Almost half of the plastic pollution comes from single use plastics. We've talked about single use plastic and shopping bags in particular for nearly 10 years and still, we've used nearly 5 trillion this year alone - that's 5,000,000,000,000. or 160,000 a second equating to a staggering 700 plastic bags a year for every single person on the planet.
And we always promise to do better. But the facts on the ground suggests we don't for some reason. These figures come from 'The World Counts' website - they do an amazing job of tracking our global challenges and it's a hard somber read.
The time to act is now. If we don’t change the way, we do things—and fast—we are on track to cause irreversible damage to the oceans. This problem is now so huge, and we've failed so far - it's time for the vocal conscientious consumers to rise and drive the change needed to save the people they love and care most about. Saving the planet and humankind is too big a job, but making small changes to your lifestyle is easier. But how? Get involved, do some research, know whats bad and avoid it, demand change, choose a charity to support, write to your local politicians, say no to the products that damage the ocean – help speed up change and try to stay informed. A huge ask but there is a lot at risk.
Please contact me is you want to chat, post, share or access material:kim@voicefortheoceasn.com
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