Life underwater is as precious as life on the ground. The oceans are home to nearly a million species and also play a big role in reducing the impact of climate change. This happens by absorbing around 23% of the yearly CO2 emissions that are generated by human activity.
The absorption of the CO2 emissions doesn’t come without a price. Ocean acidification will have a negative impact on its ecosystem. Not only will the underwater living species feel the impact, but also the humans on the ground. The more acidic the oceans become, the less CO² they can absorb from the atmosphere.
Illegal fishing and overfishing in some parts of the world are also big concerns. That's why the United Nations are working on implementing an international instrument to combat those kinds of destructive practices. The so-called “Agreement of Port State Measures'' is the first international agreement to target those practices. As of February 2020, there were 66 member countries bound to the agreement.
You may have already heard about the illegal fishing/ overfishing on the news, at school, or maybe at home?
The COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 had a positive effect on the targeted problems. It is sad to see that people needed a worldwide pandemic that cost a lot of human lives in order to give the oceans a chance to heal up. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no air, land or sea traffic that released CO2 emissions in the air. This presented the opportunity for the oceans to recover and to be back in harmony with the natural environment.
What do you think about that? Don’t you want to conserve the oceans and make them more sustainable? In order to do so all human beings must work together and in the futures you also could have a part in this!