Oceans: are they Untouchable or Vulnerable?

Almost every great civilization in history lived off the waters around them. The Greeks and Romans, the Egyptians, the Japanese, the Mesoamericans, the Polynesians. Though some are more famous than others, and may have been more grandiose or “complex”, all of the peoples above sustained themselves one way or the next by fishing and trading with other maritime powers. Eventually, agriculture and livestock would be employed to provide a diversified diet, but the sea and its bounty was constant. Unlike the nations today, however, those civilizations were of small population and sufficient sense to not turn a crucial source of food into an industry. The world’s oceans are a finite and vulnerable habitat, and cannot take the things we do to them much longer.

Up until the 1900’s, people were unsure of the ocean’s volume and extent. It was widely unknown if there was a bottom, or if the land just sloped down, down and down to oblivion. At first glance, the seas do look endless and all-absorbing: even the horizon vanishes into its depths. Consequently, the sea has been a dumping ground for millennia. But only in the wake of the Industrial Revolution have there been damaging effects due to the sheer quantity and toxicity of the pollutants. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, pollution of the atmosphere alone has negatively affected the ocean’s ratio of carbon forms: mostly bicarbonate, some carbonate and an iota of CO2 before industrial levels. CO2 absorption by the oceans, a natural process, has been increasing since humans have been pumping CO2 into the atmosphere. The increased acidity of the water, thanks to the excess CO2, inhibits the ability of coral and other shelled creatures to produce sturdy, functioning shells. Othe...

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Cesar, H., L. Burke, and L. Pet-Sode. The Economics of Worldwide Coral Reef Degradation. N.p.: CEEC, 2010. Print.

Plumer, Brad. "Just How Badly Are We Over-fishing Our Oceans?" The Washington Post. Washington Post, 29 Oct. 2013. Web. 24 Jan. 2014. .

Union of, Concerned Scientists, ed. "Impacts of Global Warming: Ocean Chemistry." Union of Concerned Scientists. UCS, 2011. Web. 2 Feb. 2014. .