Importance of the Oceans

The oceans cover more than two-thirds of the planet's surface, made up of a huge mass of water and geographically bounded by distribution-focused features. of the tectonic plates, its great extension is what has given our marvelous earth the blue planet qualifier, however, its outstanding presence extends many others factors. First of all, we must emphasize that they are a source of biological food resources thanks to which billions of people around the world can sustain themselves. In addition, they represent a source of raw materials, of minerals, precious metals, and even the salt water itself, to which different industrial or commercial uses are given. Third, its importance lies in the fact that the oceans themselves are a energy resource, since in addition to containing pockets of gas or oil, they produce renewable energy thanks to the force of maritime movements and underwater currents. This is what is also known as Hydraulic Power. On the other hand, the oceans

serve as climate regulator, since they absorb excess heat from the planet and regulate the effects of climate change by exchanging gases with the atmosphere. But also produce most of the oxygen with which we have in the atmosphere, even more than the forests and jungles of the earth's crust.

On a socioeconomic level, the oceans contribute wealth, development, and are the support of economic activities for the whole world. Taking into account that a large part of the world's population lives in coastal areas, the oceans are generators of labor resources and economic in tasks related to the sea, starting from fishing, industry, commerce, tourism or even the science that is dedicated to your study. Its role as means of communication is also remarkable thanks to maritime transport and the geopolitical and strategic importance that they have historically had.

For these reasons, from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1994, it is intended to regulate and protect, by all member countries, the sustainable development of oceans taking into account the environmental, social and economic impact that the use of these resources is generating.

Environmental Lung

The vast vegetation present in the oceans plays an essential role in the balance of gases present in the atmosphere, particularly due to the fact that it is as photosynthetic as terrestrial vegetation, and there are even recent studies that still consider it more efficient because it represents a larger population, and therefore, with a greater capacity to transform carbon dioxide in the same amount of time. necessary oxygen.

How could this be possible? There is certainly a smaller variety of higher plants adapted to marine life, however, algae and phytoplankton perfectly compensate for the need to balance the biodiversity present in the oceans and in the case of organisms that make up the marine plankton, being these so tiny, they can develop in such a way that they cover the entire extension of the oceans themselves.

On the other hand, seawater has a very high concentration of salts and minerals of all kinds, which is why it is also denser than freshwater. This property, together with the fact that it is large and very deep accumulations of water with little movement - compared to the busy course of rivers - makes the oceans require extra help to maintain the oxygenation of the waters, otherwise, the survival of the vast majority of marine animals that are capable of breathing dissolved oxygen in the water would not be possible, hence the phytoplankton and algae play such an essential role through their photosynthesis, in addition to serving of course as food for a wide variety of other species, including the gigantic ones. Whales.

The Mysteries of the Sea

The depths of the oceans harbor much more life than we can imagine, protected by the most adverse access conditions for humans, such as: 1) a pressure that increases along with the depth; 2) unpredictable water currents of strength as variable as their direction; 3) temperatures that get lower and lower as the sun's rays fade into the density of the sea, making a complicated combination that prevents researchers from accessing the deepest mysteries that hide the oceans.

In this sense, thousands are the species that are estimated to exist in the depths of the oceans and only the human imagination together with some hypotheses, they tell us about what appearance these formidable creatures adapted to such extreme conditions could have, but there is still much There is still a long way to go in order to develop the necessary technology that allows us to discover the reality of these beings, beyond the fiction.

ocean conservation

As imposing as the oceans look, the reality of the fragility of their balance is as latent as that of any other ecosystem on earth. The progressive melting of glaciers and the excessive accumulation of carbon are altering both the temperature of the waters and their density, raising the acidity of the seas and endangering the life existing in them, which in turn translates into an imminent danger for all life on the planet, so we must not belittle the importance of the oceans, nor spare measures for their preservation, even towards the purification of all solid waste, which in one way or another has reached the sea, also causing serious damage to all its fauna and flora, and although on a large scale all these are measures corresponding to the States, each person for In the meantime, the individual can adopt the environmental protection measures that he can assume, even if small, every contribution will be valuable to preserve life in the oceans and on earth.

References

CALERO LLINARES, Maria, et al. (2018). Nanotechnology to clean oceans. The importance of conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine resources (SDG 14). Presentation.

Llacer, F. J. m. (2014). The Pacific Ocean. Commemorating 500 years of its discovery. Ramon Areces Foundation. Madrid Spain.

Reimer, J., & Rodríguez-Troncoso, A. Q. (2014). Introduction to marine chemistry: importance of the main inorganic nutrients in the ocean. Topics on Coastal Research, 9. University Center of the Coast. Mexico.

Villa, C. (1996). Biology. 8th Edition. Mexico. McGraw-Hill.