{"id":172,"date":"2019-06-08T08:06:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-08T08:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/2019\/06\/08\/commemorating-world-oceans-day-global\/"},"modified":"2019-12-14T21:43:59","modified_gmt":"2019-12-14T22:43:59","slug":"commemorating-world-oceans-day-global","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whalewatchingazores.com\/blog\/commemorating-world-oceans-day-global\/","title":{"rendered":"Commemorating World Oceans Day – Global threats to the marine environment"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nWhy the Ocean is so important?<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
\n <\/span>Nowadays, we are faced with a number of threats for the marine environment, ranging from natural causes to anthropogenic causes and those come with their specific impact on the ecosystem. The marine environment supplies the planet with about 70% of the oxygen we need to survive, storages most of the carbon and detoxes waste. And furthermore, humans always loved these environments. There are cultural activities linked to the sea, like fishing, go for a swim or even just sitting quietly listening to the waves. We just love being around water, it puts us on a better mood. We can imagine that any threat to the services that these ecosystems provide can impact the wellbeing of mankind, potentially lead to the loss of income and good health, livelihoods and the lack of food security. Therefore, it is essential for us to understand the maximum about these impacts and what is the main reason <\/span>(Worm et al., 2006; Liquete et al., 2013; Naeem et al., 2016)<\/i><\/span>. <\/span><\/div>\n
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\nWhat are the main threats?<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n
\nAccording to <\/span>W.J. Boonstra et al (2015)<\/i><\/span>, shared perceptions between marine scientists worldwide about the main threats to marine environments help shape and apply more pressure on the governments to create appropriate management plans. Therefore, it is important to be aware of global changes that deteriorate and influence the sustainability of marine environments.<\/span><\/div>\n
\nOcean\u2019s main threats include a few natural processes<\/b> like ocean acidification or global warming, which can directly affect some of the benefits that the ocean provides, such as carbon storage and waste detoxification. Additionally, there are several man-made menaces<\/b> such as habitat loss for many species, overfishing or pollution among others. Based on surveys done to several marine scientists it was possible to construct a chart with the most concerning threats and respective impacts to marine environments worldwide (Fig.1)<\/b> <\/span>(Boonstra et al., 2015)<\/i><\/span>. <\/span><\/div>\n
\nIn this article, we will analyze some of the most pressing subjects, on which humans have a bigger or direct impact.<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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\nFig.1. <\/b>Global threats and impacts in marine environments with a bottom-up approach <\/span>(W.J. Boonstra et al., 2015).<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n