Ocean, People, Planet

There is only one ocean, essential to the life of everyone on Earth—and it faces perils like never before

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Ocean, People, Planet

The ocean covers nearly three-fourths of the Earth. Vast and powerful, it is central to the life of everyone on the planet, supplying more than half of the world’s oxygen, providing food and recreation, and supporting economic vitality. Yet for all its seeming invincibility, the ocean has never been more in danger.

Its very chemistry is changing as ocean waters become more acidified through climate change. Its inhabitants—from large sharks to finger-sized crustaceans—are under assault. 

Plastics pollution is now ubiquitous, found even in the ocean’s greatest depths. And sea levels continue to rise, challenging the barriers separating people from water.

Yet for all its seeming invincibility, the ocean has never been more in danger.

In this new series, we focus on the connection between the health of the ocean and the health of the planet—and what that means for the well-being of all of us.

We’ll examine the state of the ocean, detail the threats, and offer potential solutions based on data, science, and traditional ways of knowing that are collaborative and achievable.

 

Solutions

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Our Ocean's Future
The globe is mostly ocean, yet less than 3 percent is fully or highly protected. Facing urgent threats, much more is needed to sustain our blue planet’s future. Coastal communities, along with ocean advocates and experts from around the world, are leading the effort protect our great global commons. They discuss what it will take to keep our ocean healthy for generations to come

 

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How to Reverse the Ocean-Climate Crisis

It’s not enough to slow emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; we must also remove some of what’s already there

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It’s not enough to slow emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; we must also remove some of what’s already there..

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Coastal Blue Carbon

Why saving our coastlines is crucial to saving the ocean—and the planet

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Why saving our coastlines is crucial to saving the ocean—and the planet.

After the Fact

In this new series, “Ocean, People, Planet,” we focus on the connection between the health of the ocean and the health of the planet. We’ll examine the state of our ocean, the challenges it faces, and offer potential solutions based on data, science, and traditional ways of knowing.

Conservation Across Generations

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Conservation Across Generations

Stat: $2.5 trillion—The estimated GDP of the ocean, according to a 2015 report by the World Wildlife Fund, making it the seventh-largest economy in the world.

Story: In this episode, we speak with Ashlan Cousteau and Philippe Cousteau Jr., who, inspired by the legacy of Philippe’s grandfather, undersea explorer Jacques Cousteau, have dedicated their careers to ocean conservation. They discuss how they’re continuing that legacy through their work with EarthEcho International and educating the next generation about the vital role that the ocean plays in our planet’s health and the global economy. We also hear from a member of EarthEcho’s OceanEcho 30x30 fellowship, Salma Macías Torres, from Bahía de Los Ángeles, Mexico, about her efforts to engage youth to build a sustainable future for our ocean.

Cultivating Conservation

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Cultivating Conservation

Stat: 680 million—According to the United Nations, about 680 million people live in low-lying coastal zones around the world, a number expected to increase to 1 billion by 2050.

Story: In this episode, we explore how communities that rely on a healthy ocean are working to create marine protected areas (MPAs) to preserve biodiversity—and their livelihoods. In addition to hearing from Ludovic Burns Tuki, a community leader on Easter Island, home to the Rapa Nui MPA, we speak with Johnny Briggs from the Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy about the role of MPAs in restoring the ocean and safeguarding cultural traditions tied to the seas.

Learn more about "After the Fact."

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    Easter Island’s Rapa Nui People Uphold Tradition as Guardians of The Ocean

    Easter Island, a territory of Chile that lies some 4,000 kilometers (2,485 miles) west of that country’s coast, is world famous for its Moai statues, which are recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

     

    Challenges

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    Our Ocean Is Choking on Plastic

    A new analytical tool can show the main sources of plastic pollution and help governments determine how to best reduce the amount that is reaching the ocean.

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    Our ocean—all 140 million square miles of it—has a plastic pollution problem. This is the case in places where one might expect it—from the waters lapping at megacities to the world’s most polluted river deltas—but also in areas that might surprise people, such as the deepest trenches in the sea and the world’s most remote coastlines.

     

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    How We Can Help Marine Protected Areas Save Our Ocean

    A new 'whole ocean' approach to ocean conservation can serve marine life and people around the globe

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    In January 1790, a ship named The Bounty landed on a small speck of land jutting out of the Pacific Ocean. The uninhabited island, barely 2 miles long and 1 mile wide, would remain home to the crew and their subsequent generations until this very day. The fact that The Bounty dropped anchor in such a small and desolate place was no accident—its isolation was its attraction. The crew were mutineers and they never wanted to be found.

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    How We Can Avoid the 'Danger Zone' of Climate Change

    Five questions with Michael Oppenheimer

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    Michael Oppenheimer is the Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs and director of the Center for Policy Research on Energy and the Environment at Princeton University. He is a longtime participant in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

     

    Preventing Ocean Plastic Pollution

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    The Impacts of Climate Change

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    Preventing Ocean Plastic Pollution

    Stat: 11 million metric tons—the amount of plastic that enters the ocean each year.

    Story: We continue our “Ocean, People, Planet” season with a discussion of one of the largest threats facing the ocean: plastic pollution. Winnie Lau, who is the project director of Pew’s preventing ocean plastics project, and Richard Bailey, professor of environmental systems at Oxford University, discuss ways to reduce the amount of plastic entering the ocean and highlight a new analytical tool that nations can use to take action.

    The Impacts of Climate Change

    Stat: 51% of Americans say the U.S. is doing a very bad or somewhat bad job of addressing climate change.

    Story: Amid growing public concern about rising seas, extreme weather, and disappearing biodiversity, we speak with Michael Oppenheimer, the Albert G. Milbank professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University and a longtime participant in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change. He explains the science behind the planet’s changing environment, its effects on the ocean, and possible solutions to avoid “the climate danger zone.”

    This video is hosted by YouTube. In order to view it, you must consent to the use of “Marketing Cookies” by updating your preferences in the Cookie Settings link below. View on YouTube

    This video is hosted by YouTube. In order to view it, you must consent to the use of “Marketing Cookies” by updating your preferences in the Cookie Settings link below. View on YouTube

    How Climate Change Impacts Indigenous Lands
    Near the eastern shore of Maryland, the Nause-Waiwash people have lived in harmony with their land for years. This land and the species that calls it home are now threatened by rising sea levels. According to Chief Donna Wolf Mother Abbott, "Mother Earth is in distress." Chief Abbott tells the story of her community and how they have been impacted by climate change. She explains what it'll take to protect their ancestral land for future generations.

     

    A Wildlife Refuge On The Brink

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    A Wildlife Refuge On The Brink

    Stat: 2.1 feet—Scientists have forecast an increase of as much as 2.1 feet in the Chesapeake Bay by 2050.

    Story: In this episode, we travel to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, where the refuge is losing ground to climate change and rising sea levels. Through interviews with experts—including Joseph Gordon, project director for Pew’s work on conserving marine life in the U.S.; Marcia Pradines Long, manager of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge; Kristin Thomasgard,  program director with the Department of Defense; Julie M. Schablitsky, chief archaeologist at the Maryland Department of Transportation; and Kate Larson, a historian and author—we explore the threats facing this refuge because of the changing climate, and the path ahead for its environmental, cultural, and economic future.

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    This video is hosted by YouTube. In order to view it, you must consent to the use of “Marketing Cookies” by updating your preferences in the Cookie Settings link below. View on YouTube

    Saving Our Marsh: Protecting Blackwater Wildlife Refuge
    On the shores of the Chesapeake sits Blackwater Wildlife Refuge, 32,000 acres of land that waterfowl and other migrating birds depend on. But more than 5,000 acres of land have disappeared due to sea level rise. Marcia Pradines Long is the Project Leader and Refuge Manager, and she shares how climate change has impacted this area and the species that call it home. 

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    Global Challenges 
    Plastic pollution. Climate change. Rising sea levels. Our planet depends on a healthy ocean, and our ocean faces urgent challenges. Hear from ocean advocates, researchers, and experts about what's happening to our ocean—and innovative approaches for global problems.

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    Beware the Moon's Wobble

    The term “wobble” makes the phenomenon sound unpredictable, but it is actually part of the moon’s regular motions, as a recent report from NASA and researchers at the University of Hawaii documents.

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    May 20, 2021

    How Much Do You Know About Recycling and Composting Plastic?

    The global plastic pollution problem is enormously challenging. The material is used in a huge range of products—from food packaging and children’s toys to car tires, household appliances, and commercial...

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    July 23, 2020

    Breaking the Plastic Wave: Top Findings for Preventing Plastic Pollution

    Plastic has become ubiquitous on store shelves and in our homes. From wrapped food and disposable bottles to microbeads in body washes, it’s used widely as packaging or in products because it’s versatile...

     

    State of the Ocean

    An illustration of the globe, centered on Antarctica.
    An illustration of the globe, centered on Antarctica.
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    The Global Ocean

    The consequences of our taking resources from the sea were once limited to local scales. Today, exploitation, depletion, and loss affect us all.

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    The consequences of our taking resources from the sea were once limited to local scales. Today, exploitation, depletion, and loss affect us all.

     

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    This video is hosted by YouTube. In order to view it, you must consent to the use of “Marketing Cookies” by updating your preferences in the Cookie Settings link below. View on YouTube

    Ocean, People, Planet: Why We Must Protect Our Ocean
    The ocean has never needed more protection than it does now. But with solutions from data, science, and traditional knowledge, we can make a difference to safeguard this vital resource for generations to come.

     

     

    The State of Our Ocean With Sheila (Siila) Watt-Cloutier

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    The State of Our Ocean With Callum Roberts

    Stat: 30%—More than 70 countries support the call to protect and conserve at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030.

    Story: The ocean is central to all life, providing oxygen, nutrition, and recreation, and supporting economic livelihoods for coastal communities around the globe. But this essential resource is facing multiple threats, including climate change, overfishing and illegal fishing, and plastics pollution.

    In this first episode, we speak with Callum Roberts, marine biologist and oceanographer, about our human history with these waters and how we might chart a better course for our collective future.

    Learn more about "After the Fact."

    The State of Our Ocean With Sheila (Siila) Watt-Cloutier

    Stat: 3 times: The Arctic is warming three times faster than the planet as a whole.

    Story: The ocean is important for the health of the planet, and coastal communities around the world rely on it for their way of life.

    In Part II of “The State of Our Ocean,” we speak with Sheila (Siila) Watt-Cloutier, an environmental, cultural, and human rights advocate, about the value of the ocean to the Inuit in the Arctic and how challenges such as climate change and rising tides affect her community and its traditional ways of life.

    “What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic,” says Watt-Cloutier. Many of the threats emerging in her people’s culture from climate change are reflected across the world in other coastal towns.

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    The Drive to Protect 30% of the Ocean by 2030

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    Confronting Ocean Plastic Pollution

    For more than a decade, scientists have warned that humankind is leaving so much plastic in the natural environment that future archaeologists will be able to mark this era by the synthetic waste that was...

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    Analysis of the facts, numbers, and trends shaping the world

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    Analysis of the facts, numbers, and trends shaping the world

    After the Fact

    A podcast from The Pew Charitable Trusts

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    After the Fact

    Welcome to “After the Fact,” a podcast from The Pew Charitable Trusts that brings you data and analysis on the issues that matter to you. Experts from Pew and other special guests discuss the numbers and trends shaping some of society’s biggest challenges, then go beyond the facts with nonpartisan analysis and action.