Mighty waters

'The sea is everything. It covers seven tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he feels life stirring on all sides'
- Jules Vern, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea

The World Oceans Day has just passed by. How many of us are aware of the role oceans play in ensuring we have a comfortable stay on the planet?

The health of our oceans is directly linked to our health and the health of future generations. The ocean regulates the planets temperatures by absorbing a vast majority of the CO² we continue to pump into the atmosphere, whilst at the same time providing us with more than half of the air we breathe. They drive the hydrological cycle and regulate climate.

And what are we doing in turn? Creating more dead zones with our mindless activity. Dead zones with so little oxygen that no sea life can survive are caused by fertilizers from agricultural land spilling into the sea. The Gulf oil spill will take years to vanish, and in the process will affect so much of marine life. Plastic from our homes have virtually formed islands on the oceans. The carbon we are eschewing into the atmosphere enters the oceans and acidifies them to a point where life becomes a struggle. And remember, life first stepped out of the oceans.

This is yet another day to introspect on how we live our lives, how every action has its imprint on the environment and in turn on our future... do we care?