“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else with save it.”
In 1992, the Earth Summit and the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) were held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in which the Ocean Institute of Canada (OIC) and the International Centre for Ocean Development (ICOD) shared their notions for World Ocean Day. In 2002, this day was first celebrated at the global level, and on December 5, 2008, the UN, under resolution 63/111, adopted Ocean Day to create awareness about its significance and conservation around the world. In 2023, the following theme, Planet Ocean: Tides are changing,” will uncover the hidden facets of planet Earth and create a fresh surge of enthusiasm for preserving and safeguarding the ocean sphere. Oceans and seas have been vital conduits for trade and transportation, and efficient management of their essential global resources is a key feature of a sustainable future. Oceans are home to many species; around 50 percent of plants’ oxygen is generated by the oceans, while on the other side, 50 percent of the total reef in the oceans is already destroyed. After 10 years of negotiation, UN members have reached a historic agreement to protect the world’s oceans. The High Seas Treaty aims to help place 30 percent of the seas into protected areas by 2030 to safeguard and recuperate marine nature.
The ocean is constantly in motion; water is propelled around the globe in sweeping currents; waves transfer energy across entire ocean basins; and tides reliably flood and ebb every single day. Ocean movement is created by the governing principles of physics and chemistry. Friction, drag, and density all come into play when describing the nature of a wave, the movement of a current, or the ebb of a tide. Ocean motion is influenced by occurrences here on Earth that are familiar, like heat changes and wind. At the surface, currents are mainly driven by four factors: winds, the sun’s radiation, gravity, and the Earth’s rotation. All of these factors are interconnected. The sun’s radiation creates prevailing wind patterns, which push ocean water to bunch in hills and valleys. Gravity pulls the water away from hills and toward valleys, and the Earth’s rotation steers the moving water. Sculpting seawater into crested shapes, waves move energy from one area to another. The sun also has a part to play in causing the tides, and its location in relation to the moon alters the strength of the pull on the ocean. When the sun and moon are in line with one another, they reinforce each other’s gravitational pulls and create larger-than-normal tides called spring tides. Waves located on the ocean’s surface are commonly caused by wind transferring its energy to the water, and big waves, or swells, can travel over long distances. When waves crash onshore, they can have a significant impact on landscapes by shifting entire islands of sand and creating rocky coastlines.
The regular rise and fall of the ocean’s water are known as tides.” Along coasts, the water slowly rises over the shore and then slowly falls back again. Forces that contribute to tides are called tidal constituents. The Earth’s rotation is a tidal constituent. The major tidal constituent is the moon’s gravitational pull on the Earth. The closer objects are, the greater the gravitational force between them. Although the sun and moon both exert gravitational forces on the earth, the moon’s pull is stronger because the moon is much closer to the earth than the sun is.
The ocean covers three-quarters of Earth’s surface, contains 97 percent of Earth’s water, and represents 99 percent of the living space on the planet by volume. The current level of acidity has increased by 26 percent since the inception of the industrial revolution. Coastal waters are deteriorating due to pollution and eutrophication. Without concentrated efforts, coastal eutrophication is expected to increase by 20 percent in large marine ecosystems by 2050. Meanwhile, Pakistan, the fifth-most populous nation on earth, witnessed the worst climate change effects last year in the form of floods. Between June and August, the nation witnessed 190 percent of the average rainfall over the past 30 years, affecting 33 million people and recording 1600 casualties.
Additionally, the oceans are facing challenges and pressure due to anthropogenic activities. Excess nutrients from agriculture or wastewater cause eutrophication, a process that can lead to harmful algal blooms and ultimately to oxygen depletion. Other pollution challenges are oil spills, marine litter, rising sea levels, an overall loss in biomass, and a poleward shift in fish stocks. In combination with increasing water temperatures, ocean acidification further aggravates the impacts of climate change, affecting marine resources. A multipronged ocean conservation strategy that WWF-Pakistan began in 2012 has now saved tens of thousands of dolphins, sea turtles, and other vulnerable maritime species every year. It also successfully advocated for the creation of more marine protected areas. The mangroves are the plants that guard the coast against wave energy and slow down the high tides by maintaining ecological buffer zones. They play a significant role in capturing sediments from the sea and preserving marine diversity and ecosystems.
Moreover, mangroves are also the source of seafood production. Apprehending the importance of mangroves in thwarting coastal erosion, the Pakistan Navy is going the extra mile by stimulating its efforts for mangrove forestation. Following the Prime Minister’s initiative of ‘Green Pakistan’,” the Pakistan Navy launched the Mangroves Plantation Campaign (MPC) in 2016. Since then, the Pakistan Navy has been vigorously engaged in planting mangroves across the coastal regions of Sindh and Baluchistan; nearly 7.5 million mangrove have been planted by PN during MPC. The Pakistan Navy has always played its part in protecting marine ecosystems and conserving the environment. In addition to it, the Pakistan Navy recently arranged PIMEC (Pakistan International Maritime Expo and Conference) in February 2023 to create awareness as well as bring together stakeholders from diverse maritime fields to explore and exploit the potential of oceans and mitigate the effects of climate change. According toChief of the Naval Staff (CNS), Admiral Amjad Khan Niazi, ocean is significant part of earth’s ecosystem for sustainable life, which can be maintained by affirming commitment to protect, preserve and conserve each aspect of marine environment and its resources.
In a nutshell, World Ocean Day highlights the need for oceans in human society and focuses on the reasons to protect them from deterioration. This day provides a unique opportunity not only to honor but also to conserve and protect our oceans. The primary purpose of this day is to create awareness of the impact of anthropogenic activities on oceans, develop a global movement of citizens or nations for ocean protection, and take collective possible measures in sustainable management of the world’s oceans.
Anum Sultan, Independent Writer.
