by simon
Why are the oceans important? The importance of wildlife.

The importance of the oceans, their wildlife and ecosystems

The land and oceans are part of one system: Earth. So when we ask, why are the oceans important? We’re asking about our own future. Life began in the ocean billions of years before the first plants or animals colonised land. Oceans regulate the state of our atmosphere because they are 99 per cent of the volume of living space for animals and wildlife is the mechanism that drives stability.

Climate change has always been the symptom of biodiversity loss … that’s to say, the breakdown of the complex connectivity between lifeforms that allows Earth to flex in response to changing conditions. Ocean wildlife has, for the large part, acted as a buffer against the most catastrophic effects and since about fifty million years ago, has kept our climate quite stable.

Industrial fishing only happened recently in our planet’s history and this reduction in the abundance of wildlife represents our greatest challenge for survival.

Below you will find a range of articles designed to inspire an understanding of the magnitude of animal impact on our oceans.

What’s more important, the ocean or the land?

The importance we bestow on the land is anthropocentric because we live there. It’s naturally important to us that we protect it. Nonetheless, if life in the ocean dies, we suffer irreversible changes to land-based ecosystems and climate.

In this article, we take a look at many of the ways that land and oceans are linked together.

The answer to the question, ‘why are the oceans important’, is that we live on the land but the oceans regulate Earth’s temperature. The oceans are equally vital to the land we live on.

Latest posts about why the oceans are important

Posters in Scotland have conservationists all of a flutter. They claim that seagulls pollute the sea. The answer to the question: ‘Can seagulls pollute the sea?’ is, yes, in theory. However, if they did, they would have gone extinct a long time ago. It doesn’t mean it can’t happen in the short term but to understand the consequence we need to think in term of ecosystems and animal impact. We are always too quick to jump to conclusions about the impact of wildlife being negative. This puts our future at risk.

Can seagulls pollute the sea?
Posters in Scotland claim ‘bird poo contributes to water pollution’ (source: BBC website).

Can any animal pollute the environment?

Yes. We pollute the environment and we are an animal. In a steady stable-state ecosystem though, this is kept under control. But what do we mean when we say ‘pollution’? What we mean is something called surplus free energy. Most energy-containing molecules are based on carbon or nitrogen. For example, ammonium, nitrate, faeces or the bodies of dead animals even. When these are in excess they cause the surrounding environment to collapse. Pollution is most often the consequence of some species becoming too abundant and upsetting the shape of the food pyramid. However, it tends to involve organisms lower down the food chain. Plants are actually the biggest potential sources of pollution as they fix the world’s carbon using powerful sunlight.

The impact of animals is positive even when it’s not

Humans tend to think of impacts as negative but the impact of larger animals like seagulls is usually positive, even when it’s not. When there is an excess of food – including, for example, chips – birds can become more abundant. The chips are also a source of pollution. The seagulls are actually cleaning up another source of waste. But as I discussed in this article, it’s a messy process. Just like on a building site, it takes time to reorganise waste into something useful. Animals are often seen as the harbingers of chaos, pollution and inconvenience. The short-term impact might be positive even when it’s not seen that way. What they are really doing is cleaning up our mess! If we have too many gulls, it’s either because we are too abundant, or we are too wasteful. Blaming the gulls won’t make the problem go away.

What good do seabirds actually do?

Seabirds have an enormous impact on nutrients and weather.

As when it comes to all animals, in order to create our own survival, we have to start respecting the function of wildlife. Our own biased perspective tends to contradict the reality, which is that animals are essential for our survival. When we treat them as pests, we risk creating an obstacle to progress, in rebuilding the systems needed for our own futures.

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