How Saving the Ocean can Make your Air Cleaner
Most people think that if we continue to planting trees, we will be able to effectively alleviate a lot of the air pollution problems that we are facing. While this is not untrue, trees are not the largest oxygen producers for the planet. All of the world’s rainforests combined contribute to only 28% of the world’s oxygen. Oceans, on the other hand, contribute to almost 70% of the oxygen that we breathe!
Phytoplankton and other aquatic plants photosynthesize and create oxygen in the process just like regular plants do. This extremely important part of our biosphere is often neglected because we don’t immediately make the connections between different aspects of the natural world. The oceans are a very important aspect of our existence but the links between oceans and our existence are not always clearly drawn out and are often limited to marine animals being affected by our waste
Unfortunately, our Oceans too will not be able to sustain us as we keep on maintaining unhealthy and unsustainable lifestyles. Allowing sewage and untreated effluents to directly flow into our oceans unchecked is causing “dead zones” where plankton cannot survive. Another reason is the huge amounts of CO2 due to human activity and global warming which is affecting these ocean plants.
Plankton are the basis for the entire marine food chain, besides being the biggest contributors to oxygen and the reason for cloud formation. Without phytoplankton, life as we know it, wouldn’t exist!
While what I mentioned above may seem frightening, there is a lot that you and I can do to help the current situation.
Here is what you can do as an individual:
- Petition against untreated effluents from industries flowing into the ocean
- Donate and support NGOs that conserve oceans
- Demand that your building and workplace have sewage treatment plants
We have to do more if we want a good quality of life for future generations and unfortunately time is running out faster than we can imagine. As a species we are in a state of lethargy and are too comfortable with our current lives but if we don’t act soon, we wont have a planet to live on.
References:
*Our organization, Upcycler’s Lab, creates learning tools and programs for parents and schools around sustainability. Our vision is to change mindset and behaviour around waste and therefore we only work with children below the age of 9 since most behaviour is formed by that age. Our newest program for schools uses play based learning, storytelling, crafts and songs to teach waste management to children.
Know more about our story here: https://bit.ly/2HO909u
Have a look at our products here: https://bit.ly/2KdyZF7
Get in touch with us on info@upcyclerslab.com
