World Oceans Day - June 8

Campaign poster for World Oceans Day – An image of the Earth is surrounded by the blue ocean, vegetation and coral is shown in the background

➡️ World Oceans Day June 8 - Catalysing Action for Our Ocean & Climate

This United Nations international day aims to raise awareness about the crucial role that oceans play in our lives and the importance of preserving and protecting them.

This year's theme focuses on the threat of climate change to our blue planet - ‘Catalysing Action for Our Ocean & Climate’. A healthy ocean and a healthy planet cannot exist without the other, we must push for stronger international policies and action at all levels to ensure the safeguarding of both.

With 90% of fish stocks now depleted globally, and 50% of the world's coral reefs destroyed, there has never been a more pressing time to protect our oceans. The balance between depletion and restoration is dangerously close to tipping irreversibly in the wrong direction.

A beach in Somalia is littered with plastic and fishing debris

What are the Major Threats to the World's Oceans?

Oceans are currently facing a polycrisis as pollution, overfishing, and climate change wreak havoc on this precious ecosystem.

Sea levels are rising by 3.7 mm per year. By the year 2050, current predictions place sea level rise at 30 cm resulting in large scale coastal flooding and erosion.
The ocean’s warmest recorded year ever was in 2023.
Ocean acidity has increased by 30% since the start of the Industrial Revolution, a result of rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Increased ocean temperatures have resulted in the loss of half of the worlds coral reefs. They are at risk of being completely wiped out by 2050.
12 million tonnes of plastic waste enters our oceans every year.
The Arctic and Antarctic have recorded their lowest ever sea-ice coverage in the last 40 years.

Find comprehensive guides to other issues affecting our oceans and marine life including oil spills, whaling, the shipping industry, deep sea mining, and offshore drilling for oil.

Infographic showing the relationship between oceans and seas and man and society and how we can work sustainably with our oceans. At the bottom is displays the major threats to our planets oceans

Healthy Oceans for a Better World

World Oceans Day provides an opportunity for proposing solutions to address many of these issues. It also highlights successful conservation efforts and policy implementation.

The High Seas Treaty which was signed in September 2023 by all UN members provides for the first time a legal framework regulating human activities in the planet's oceans. It aims to prevent further biodiversity loss, fight climate change, tackle environmental degradation, and promote equity and fairness.

Oceans are fundamental to all life on our planet, they help stabilise our climate, they provide a key source of nutrition to billions of people, 3 billion people rely on oceans for their livelihood, and they are home to some of the most magnificent animals and habitats on the planet.

We must create not only a healthy blue planet, but also a more just, equitable and sustainable one.

"The ocean’s power of regeneration is remarkable - if we just offer it the chance," - Sir David Attenborough

Author: Rachael Mellor, 06.06.24 licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0

For further reading on World Oceans Day see below ⬇️

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