Our Oceans make up about 71% of the earth’s surface and they hold around 321,003,271 cubic miles of water which is 97% of all water found on earth. As we know, the oceans are important for our survival and it’s important that we keep them clean, because they produce about half of the oxygen that we breathe daily and makes life on Earth possible. As of today, we have only discovered 5% of the depths of the ocean and are familiar with 230,000 different creatures. It’s fascinating to imagine what else is waiting to be discovered in the remaining 95%. The oceans of our world are separated into five different parts: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic and Southern Ocean. Since every one of these has different interesting characteristics, I will present all of them to you separately.
The Pacific Ocean
The Pacific is the largest part of our global ocean and lies between the west coast of the U.S. and South America and Southeast Asia and East Australia. It covers 165,250,000 square km which is 46% of the entire earth’s surface. The deepest known point of earth can also be found in the Pacific. It’s the Mariana trench and it reaches 10,911m into the depths of the ocean.
The Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic is the second largest ocean and it lies between Africa, Europe, the West coast of North and South America and the Arctic. It covers 106,460,000 km² and the deepest point is Milwaukee which is 8,376m deep. The Atlantic Ocean includes the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea, the Caribbean Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea and many more.
Indian Ocean
As you could have already guessed, the Indian Ocean is the third largest and stretches from the East of Africa to Southern Asia and Australia. The Indian Ocean is controlled by the monsoons, which cause wet and dry seasons throughout the country, and by ebb and flow. It covers 70,560,000 km² which is 19,8% of the earth’s water surface. The deepest point is the java trench which is 7,725m deep and the Ocean includes for example the Red Sea.
Arctic Ocean
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and coldest of all of them. It can be found in the North of Europe, Asia and North America. Normally, the Ocean is fully covered in ice which drastically declined due to climate change. The Arctic covers 14,056,000 km² and the deepest point is 5,502m deep.
Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean has only been officially recognized since 2000 by the International Hydrographic Organization. It wraps around Antarctica and covers 21,960,000 km² with the deepest point being 7,235m deep.
Threats for our Oceans
As we all know, our oceans have recently been suffering a lot more than usual and it is our fault. The most obvious is global warming, which causes the sea to heat up. Since warmer temperatures cause the volume of water to expand, the sea levels are rising which could lead to floods of islands. Warm water is also less beneficial when it comes to absorbing CO2 than cold water, which is very inconvenient regarding our increasing CO2 emissions. In regards to our fish population, heat is also responsible for corals to die which again causes the fish population to decrease. The second problem that we have slowly been working against in the last couple of years is plastic pollution. Around 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into the Ocean every single year. Animals like turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and suffocate from them or they get entangled in nets, straws, or packaging. While we are on the topic of fish suffering, fishing is also important to mention. Overfishing plays an active role in specific species dying out and lost fishing nets, which make up 86% of plastic waste on the sea floor, cause great harm to marine life. Other risks also include oil platforms on the Ocean which cause leaks of oil and toxic waste into the water.
Solutions
Scientists and Politicians have been working on solutions for years now and it still might seem like we are not making any progress. Some overall changes that need to be implemented by the government are the reduction of pollution, investment in renewable energy and the regulation of fishing. But luckily, there is also something that we as individuals can do, even though it doesn’t have the same impact. For example, reducing plastic usage and changing to reusable bags, water bottles and straws, eating less and more consciously meat and fish, and doing your own research and spreading awareness.
Our Oceans are a big part of our life and are the reason that our existence is possible in the first place. That is why it is of great importance that we all work together to keep our oceans clean and our fish and corals alive. I hope you learned something new through this article!
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/science/ocean
https://oceanliteracy.unesco.org/ocean/
https://oceanliteracy.unesco.org/threats-to-the-ocean/