We still operate under the assumption that the land is our domain and if we care for the land, the seas can take care of themselves. The United Nations designated 1998 as the International Year of the Ocean to highlight the importance of the seas and to focus attention and action on the ocean. The year was heralded by a unique call to action by 1,600 scientists from 65 countries who, in a signed statement, noted the demise of the oceans and urged that the degradation be stopped. According to a recent UNEP report, a third of all coastal regions are at high risk of degradation, and in four out of seven coastal regions the degradation is increasing. There is hardly a global issue that is not linked to the ocean.
Ocean currents play a pivotal role in climate and ocean productivity.
In the tropics, surface waters are heated and transported towards higher latitudes. At great depths, colder waters travel around the world, taking about 1,000 years to complete the journey. Current patterns drive many of our activities on land and sea. Upwelling of nutrient rich waters off the Pacific Northwest coast of the U.S., off Peru, and the Benguela system of West Africa generate some of the most productive and biologically diverse environments, which, in turn, have spawned large fisheries. Global warming could disrupt this current, causing temperatures to plummet and producing disastrous consequences for biological diversity, and the people of the region.