Ocean 2050: How to sustain our biggest ecosystem
Mankind is consuming the ocean’s resources at an alarming rate. How do we sustain this vital resource for generations to come? National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Syliva Earle outlines some of the ways to save this vital ecosystem.
Predicting the future state of the ocean is tricky, partly because we still know so little about this vast ecosystem that makes up so much of our planet. Presently, less than 10% of the ocean floor has been mapped with accuracy comparable to what exists for the terrestrial parts of our planet, or Mars, Venus and the dark side of the Moon. Little is known about most of the ocean itself, the water that exists between the upper sunlit region and the deep terrain below. While a dozen people have walked on the moon 240,000 miles above the Earth’s surface, only three have descended – and returned – from the deepest part in the sea, seven miles below our realm.
A recent 10-year assessment of life in the sea accounted for about a quarter-of-a-million marine species, with an estimated million, perhaps 10 million more yet to be discovered and at least given a name (and that doesn’t include microbial forms). The largest animal in the sea, Architeuthys dux – the giant squid of all giant squids – eluded being seen alive by humans in its own, dark realm until 2013. What else is out there, down there, awaiting discovery?
While the magnitude of our ignorance is vast, enough is known to realize that the ocean governs the way the world functions, drives climate and weather, generates more than half of the oxygen in the atmosphere, shapes planetary chemistry, stabilises temperature, and otherwise makes Earth hospitable for humankind and life as we know it. Water is the key, the single non-negotiable thing life requires. Earth’s oceans are 97% water, but in reality it is much more – a living minestrone, dominated by a microbial matrix of bacteria, single-celled organisms, viruses and microscopic planktonic organisms as well as legions of small, medium and large creatures that together shape planetary chemistry. The ocean, including the watery realm deep within the cracks in the rocks under the seafloor, comprises more than 90% of the biosphere.
We now know the ocean is the cornerstone of Earth’s life support system. It is the living blue engine that sets Earth apart from any other place in the Universe that we know of. If it is in trouble, so are we. It is, and we are. Once thought to be too big to fail, it is increasingly obvious that there are limits to what can be put into the sea, such as CO2, toxic and nuclear waste, plastic debris. And there also limits to what can be taken out – oil, gas, minerals, wildlife – without serious consequences to things we care about: the economy, our health, security, and most importantly of all, our existence.
We should hold as our highest priority taking care of the ocean systems that make our lives possible. So, 40 years hence, what will the oceans be like?
Watch, not catch
Some of us rely on ocean wildlife as a source of locally caught and locally consumed food, but industrial-scale extraction of shrimp, fish and other animals for luxury markets, fertiliser, oil and food for domestic animals is swiftly depleting wild populations both in coastal areas and increasingly in the high seas, beyond local jurisdiction. Fish and other ocean wildlife are taking on new importance in the eyes of many as vital elements in ocean ecosystems, just as wild birds, once primarily targeted for the table, are now regarded with significant ecological and aesthetic esteem. Already, tourism that relies on living fish and intact ocean ecosystems is economically more valuable than fisheries in many island countries. A live whale or whale shark or coral reef fish can be a source of tourism revenues for decades or taken to market – once. Perhaps by 2050, fish watching will rival the sport of spotting birds.
A recent 10-year assessment of life in the sea accounted for about a quarter-of-a-million marine species, with an estimated million, perhaps 10 million more yet to be discovered and at least given a name (and that doesn’t include microbial forms). The largest animal in the sea, Architeuthys dux – the giant squid of all giant squids – eluded being seen alive by humans in its own, dark realm until 2013. What else is out there, down there, awaiting discovery?
While the magnitude of our ignorance is vast, enough is known to realize that the ocean governs the way the world functions, drives climate and weather, generates more than half of the oxygen in the atmosphere, shapes planetary chemistry, stabilises temperature, and otherwise makes Earth hospitable for humankind and life as we know it. Water is the key, the single non-negotiable thing life requires. Earth’s oceans are 97% water, but in reality it is much more – a living minestrone, dominated by a microbial matrix of bacteria, single-celled organisms, viruses and microscopic planktonic organisms as well as legions of small, medium and large creatures that together shape planetary chemistry. The ocean, including the watery realm deep within the cracks in the rocks under the seafloor, comprises more than 90% of the biosphere.
We now know the ocean is the cornerstone of Earth’s life support system. It is the living blue engine that sets Earth apart from any other place in the Universe that we know of. If it is in trouble, so are we. It is, and we are. Once thought to be too big to fail, it is increasingly obvious that there are limits to what can be put into the sea, such as CO2, toxic and nuclear waste, plastic debris. And there also limits to what can be taken out – oil, gas, minerals, wildlife – without serious consequences to things we care about: the economy, our health, security, and most importantly of all, our existence.
We should hold as our highest priority taking care of the ocean systems that make our lives possible. So, 40 years hence, what will the oceans be like?
Watch, not catch
Some of us rely on ocean wildlife as a source of locally caught and locally consumed food, but industrial-scale extraction of shrimp, fish and other animals for luxury markets, fertiliser, oil and food for domestic animals is swiftly depleting wild populations both in coastal areas and increasingly in the high seas, beyond local jurisdiction. Fish and other ocean wildlife are taking on new importance in the eyes of many as vital elements in ocean ecosystems, just as wild birds, once primarily targeted for the table, are now regarded with significant ecological and aesthetic esteem. Already, tourism that relies on living fish and intact ocean ecosystems is economically more valuable than fisheries in many island countries. A live whale or whale shark or coral reef fish can be a source of tourism revenues for decades or taken to market – once. Perhaps by 2050, fish watching will rival the sport of spotting birds.
