BY FR. SHAY CULLEN
ACCORDING to Our World Data, the world produces an estimated 200 million tons of fish and sea food every year including farmed fish. The ocean fish are being depleted at an unprecedented rate. “It is sobering to see this change happening so quickly,” says Prof Mike Burrows, a marine scientist in Scotland. He is a witness to the global sea warming phenomenon threatening our survival.
The oceans are vital for the survival of planet earth which has about 96.5 percent of all Earth’s water. They absorb 25 percent of the CO2 released into the atmosphere by industry and the oceans grab and hold 90 percent of the excess heat created by these emissions. That’s why they are warming, how much more can they take?
They are massive “carbon absorbers.” Without them, we might all be dead because the oceans supply no less than 50 percent of the earth’s oxygen needed for life.
The warmer oceans are melting the arctic glaciers faster, too, and ocean levels are rising. In less than 20 years time, beach front property will be threatened. If you have one, sell it now.
The warmer water is bleaching and destroying the corals, the home and breeding grounds of thousands of species of fish and seafood. As much as 80 percent of the world’s fishing grounds are beyond saving, according to some environmentalists. Exploited to the last, all are moving towards total collapse because of the over-fishing. The fish stocks cannot recover.
According to Dr Matt Frost, from the Plymouth Marine Lab in the UK, “We are putting oceans under more stress than we have done at any point in history,” referring to the fact that pollution and over-fishing also change the oceans.
The syndicated illegal fishing fleets with drag nets are scooping up millions of tons of fish from inside protected exclusive marine boundaries, as China is doing in the Philippines. This kind of fishing is causing the worldwide fish stocks to collapse. By 2048, at this rate of depletion, according to The World Counts website, the oceans will not be able to replenish its fish stocks. All could be gone and fish farms will be the only source. Fish farms would be a good investment right now.
If this destruction of the oceans is not stopped with international law enforcement, the ten billion humans on earth by 2050 will not eat any fish. That loss of protein source will be catastrophic. At present, the world population is 8,051,355,391 and is increasing by one birth every second. How will they feed themselves? Massive migration will result.
The hungry are now marching north from the southern colonial exploited impoverished countries. Thousands are traveling on foot, by bus, boat and dinghy to reach the lands of hope and prosperity. They are rejected mostly.
Exploitation under former colonial powers and present corrupt governments and poverty is driving the poor northwards. Global and ocean warming is the most dire threat to all people. It must be addressed and governments must end dependence on fossil fuel and go for renewable energy sources non-stop. The billions in the proposed Philippine budget for confidential funds could be better spent on renewables. They are provided free by nature: wind, sun, geothermal and hydro-power. We just have to harness them.
The world’s political and industrial leaders have to find a conscience and a moral compass and must overcome the greed that is causing the climate crises. (preda.org)/PN
