Oceans are one of the Earth’s most valuable resources providing food in the form of fish worth 200 billion pounds each year.
Kolkata: The oceans on the face of the Earth comprise a world of mystery, magic and beauty. And it is the mystery more than anything else that pushes divers into the depths. On the occasion of the World Oceans Day, here’s why the day is celebrated world over and how important are the oceans for us.
Idea of celebrating this day
The idea of celebrating World Oceans Day was originally proposed in the year 1992 jointly by Canada’s International Centre for Ocean Development and the Ocean Institute of Canada at the Earth Summit – UN conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. it is a day to celebrate our world’s shared oceans and our personal connection to the seas. The aim to celebrate World Oceans Day is also to raise awareness about the crucial role that oceans play in our lives and the various important ways in which we can help to protect them. The theme for this year is Revitalization: Collective Action for the Ocean.
Importance of oceans
Oceans are one of the Earth’s most valuable resources providing food in the form of fish worth 200 billion pounds each year. Oceans are used for transportation, including both travel and shipping. Apart from this, it is a treasured source of recreation for humans and mined for minerals like gravel, sand, some manganese, copper, nickel, iron and cobalt that are found in the deep oceans. Acting as a climatic buffer, oceans are an integral component of the world’s climate due to the capacity to collect, drive and mix water, heat and carbon dioxide. Oceans can hold and circulate more water, heat and carbon dioxide than the atmosphere.
Marine pollution and its conservation
Marine pollution is the diversity of waste substances into the sea resulting into harmful effects on living resources, hazards to human health, hindrance to the fisheries and the impairment of quality for use of sea water. The major pollutants that cause marine pollution are sewage, pesticides, plastic wastes, metallic wastes, oil, sediment plumes (by deep-sea mining), heat, radioactive substances and dredge spoil. If marine life gets effected by pollution and they carry the pollutants in its biomass, the human population may get its impact while consuming such resources. Thus, it is important to spread awareness about marine pollution and protect the marine waters from the pollutants.
Since the last few years, a number of established and famous fashion brands and design houses, including Adidas, Gucci and Raymonds have made a lot of efforts to propagate the concept of sustainable fashion by recycling plastic wastes from the ocean. The Edible Six Bag Ring from Saltwater Brewery is 100% bio-degradable within two to three months of being in the oceans. Adidas and other such brands are changing their habits and introducing Ultra BOOST Uncaged Adidas x Parley Shoes that doesn’t allow one to sacrifice fashion to look after the planet. Apart from this, the H&M’s new conscious exclusive collection features the use of Bionic — a brand new material created from recycled polyester from plastic collected from beaches and shorelines.
Interesting facts about the oceans
- The deepest living fish ever recorded has been found 26,715 feet below sea level and has been nicknamed the Ghost Fish.
- The pressure in the Mariana Trench is 8 tonne per square inch which is 1,000 times the atmospheric pressure at sea level. The temperature varies from -1 degree Celsius to 4 degrees Celsius.
- Many of the species among the abyssal creatures living at the bottom of the ocean can glow in the dark by triggering special chemical reactions.
- The Founder Fish found in the oceans can use their camouflage to hide on a checkerboard
- Some species in the Antarctic Ocean have natural anti-freeze in their blood preventing them from freezing. Hakeral, one of the world’s most acquired tastes, is a product of fermenting shark to allow the anti-freeze toxins from rotting away.
