The oceans cover roughly 71 percent of the earth’s surface so you better learn to swim!
With melting ice and rising ocean levels, this amusing anecdote incites a serious conversation. Over the past hundred years, scientists have been racing to discover the damaging effects climate change has on ocean habitats; specifically marine life.
Upon reading the news, the average person is aware of the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch; a 1.6 million square kilometer collection of trash floating between Hawaii and California, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010, and perhaps the disastrous effects of commercial overfishing. “So what?” you say. “We’re certainly not planning on living underwater in the distant future. Ocean pollution has little effect on humans and overall life on land right?” Wrong.
BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill 2018
This may come as a shock to some, but marine plants called phytoplankton are responsible for supplying 50 to 80 percent of total oxygen on earth.These tiny plants act as primary producers in the greater marine food chain. Small fish and other organisms rely on phytoplankton for food, as well as places to lay their eggs. These fish are then eaten by bigger fish and so on. All other organisms rely on the existence of phytoplankton in order to survive. With this delicate balancing act, the diversity of life flourishes in the oceans.
Overtime, small one-manned fishing canoes steadily grew larger to support the growing human population. These once sustainable fishing practices have transformed into huge commercial fishing operations. According to a 2019 Smithsonian article titled, “Twice as Many Fishing Vessels are Catching Fewer Fish on the World’s Oceans” by Jason Daley, the total number of global fishing vessels increased from 1.7 million in 1950 to 3.7 million today. With this increase in commercial fishing, the world’s fish stocks plummet.
This overthrowing of the delicate ecosystem sets into motion a cascade of negative effects. One particular marine species affected by overfishing is the coined “top predator of the ocean”; the shark. Many people have a misconception of sharks due to fear mongering pushed by the media. Blockbuster films such as Jaws(1975) and recent release of The Meg (2018) have successfully driven some people out of the water. This widespread fear of sharks has caused the extinction of many of their species. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), released a statement this March saying that 17 species of shark are at risk for extinction. Certainly, there is some truth to the extraordinary power and abilities sharks possess, however, their role in conserving the ocean’s habitats is essential. Similar to the importance of phytoplankton in their role as the lowest organism on the food chain, sharks hold equal importance in their position at the top. Being a top predator, sharks keep the population size of every organism in the food chain in check. Remove sharks from the ocean, and you witness a trophic cascade of negative effects. Populations spiral out of control, the amount of food to support these predators disappears, and the entire chain ceases to exist.
Shark Fins Sold for Shark Fin Soup
In the disappearance of marine life structure, there is an overall drop in oxygen production. Giant tidal waves and storms hit harder without important structures like coral reefs in place, and the ocean continues to warm, bringing the planet to an ultimately unliveable temperature.
The ocean is the earth’s most important habitat, with its fate having a direct impact on our lives.