While it is always fun to make New Year’s Resolutions, this annual rite is even more satisfying when we do it with a purpose. We all can target some of our plans for 2022 to help improve the environment, and since the oceans are crucial to everyone, this is an excellent place to start. Fortunately, small actions can have a cumulative impact when enough people care. When looking forward to next year, consider how can we protect the ocean with our actions:
- Avoid seafood that has a damaging impact on the ocean ecosystem
- Take an inspiring sailing excursion to experience the wonder of the Pacific Ocean
- Choose plastic-free alternatives to reduce waste that harms marine animals
- Travel responsibly and support companies that protect the oceans
- Support trusted organizations that work for cleaner marine environments
Why Our Oceans Are in Danger
Covering about 70% of the planet’s surface, clean oceans are vital to the well-being of humans and millions of other creatures. Unfortunately, these interconnected seas face many dangers, including an abundance of waste materials, chemical pollution, and overharvesting of food.
Learning how does climate change affect the ocean is a case in point. This is a complicated subject that impacts just about every area of the ocean and of life on Earth. For example, warmer temperatures around the globe mean more melting of ice in the polar regions, which leads to higher ocean levels, which leads to the destruction of coastal wetlands. The influx of salty water to freshwater marshlands is harmful to fisheries, insects, birds and reptiles and amphibians.
The temperature of the oceans can also have a large impact on the food chain. Many species of whales depend on small creatures in the water such as krill, and a change in water temperature as well in its chemical composition can threaten this food supply. Whales that have come to expect bountiful food in the ocean at certain times could face shortages that lead to increased mortality and reduced reproductive success.
What You Can Do To Help Our Oceans in 2022
If we all do our part, we can begin to make strides in the right direction. Education plays an important role. It is helpful for everyone to learn what is a coral reef ecosystem? Once we learn that coral reefs are incredibly complex systems that feed and house remarkable creatures, we begin to appreciate their beauty and fragility. These areas face many threats and only a change in our collective actions can save them.
Threats such as ocean acidification from climate change and plastic pollution cause reef bleaching. This, in turn, bleaches the reefs and decreases the food available to fish, octopuses, crustaceans and others.
As long as we stay engaged and play a positive role, we can make sure the oceans provide safe havens for amazing marine mammals. Getting out on the water and watching whales and dolphins play can inspire us all to do better. We can all work in 2022 to preserve the beauty and abundance of our oceans.
