We do not know where the bulk of the oxygen we breathe comes from. Hot water releases high pressure. A warmer ocean becomes unlivable for most of the marine life. Warmer seawater changes the ocean current and fails to absorb land surface heat. Swirling heat, rendered global warming, and dumping wastes in millions of metric tons come together to destroy everything that oceans preserve. Most of the damages are permanent.
We have destroyed all the reasons, including the protecting cover of the surface from radiation, the right degree of temperature, clean drinking water availability, oxygen, etc., which made life on Earth possible. Many people are unaware that we get the bulk of oxygen from the ocean, thanks to the rich marine plants which produce photosynthetic oxygen. Oceans constitute more than two-thirds of Earth. Oceans are also the climate regulators and sources of many factors which support life on the planet. Roughly three-quarters of the oxygen comes from ocean plants such as algal plankton, kelp and phytoplankton. A type of phytoplankton named Prochlorococcus is a micro marine bacteria with the richest photosynthetic organism, thereby becoming the most significant source of oxygen. They produce oxygen through photosynthesis and convert carbon dioxide and sunlight into sugars, which all organisms absorb for energy. Most of us believe trees and plants – our forests – are the only sources of oxygen. Yes, scientists say forests produce 28 per cent of the oxygen we breathe. Forests play multiple roles in sustaining land lives. Of the total land, forests cover 31 per cent, equivalent to four billion hectares. The industrial era saw depletion in forest cover on earth from 5.9 billion hectares.
We have destroyed forests and never mind the imbalance of ecology. Now we are dumping all the rubbish in the ocean. The United Nations Environmental Program estimated that we dump close to 13 million metric tons of plastic in the ocean. Occasional oil spills contribute further to ocean pollution. These pollutants have multiple impacts on the lives of marine species and plants. While large marine life can migrate from ocean to ocean, plants are unable to do it. When plants carry the immediate impact, other lives suffer over a period. Human activities made 95 per cent of the ocean vulnerable to damage.
Besides multiple ways of pollution, now earth has become hotter. This also brings an additional load on the already adverse impact on the ocean as it absorbs heat resulting in the movement of warm water all over the sea. The movement of warm water melts the ice-capped on the north and south poles and stops the sinking of cold water with the potential to change the ocean currents. The mixing of the cold water after melting the glaciers with salt water also impacts ocean currents. Why is the ocean current so important? It is the regulator of surface climate and defence against solar radiation hitting the surface. So, if we look at how our faults impact the overall life on the planet, we get a large picture of horror which we seem unafraid of. The story will tell us how many years we worked hard to destroy marine plants, marine animals and alter the ocean currents. We already have a huge land story of change in climate, intense drought and heavy floods shattering the lives of every animal, plant and tree.
What we see around us – the flood and drought – are not the only things happening around us. The impacts are unimaginably massive. What is invisible is more horrible.