The ocean plays an essential role on earth and affects my life in many ways such as providing weather, food, and oxygen. One of the unique features is that the ocean creates the weather patterns El Niño and La Niña. El Niño is a major temperature fluctuation in the tropical pacific ocean. El Niño is the warm phase of the fluctuation and La Niña is the cold phase. Due to the ocean, there is no such thing as unpredictable weather, and Southern California where I live in has a comfortable climate called the Mediterranean climate. I was so surprised by the fact that there are only five Mediterranean zones in the world.
Next, the ocean is the resource of seafood, and I love seafood. According to Darwin’s evolution theory, all lives began from the ocean. Nowadays, ocean pollution is a serious problem. Most countries throw away trash into the ocean, and fish mistake the trash for food. Most sea creatures, especially fish, do not have the function to digest plastics, which travels up the food chain. It is harmful to eat fish polluted with plastic, and this might affect our seafood lifestyle in the near future.
Finally, trees are an important source of oxygen, but also the ocean provides a big ecosystem of creating oxygen. Like Amazon forests, there are big great barrier reefs located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Australia. These huge reefs take a significant role on the Earth as they create half of Earth’s oxygen and consume nearly one-third of the co2 generated from burning fossil fuel even though it only covers 0.0025 percent of the oceanic floor. The size is quite impressive since it’s almost the same size as Japan. Sadly, the issues of the ocean such as global warming, pollution, acidification, and destruction by humans are killing coral reefs around the world. This creates problems such as a loss of habitat for fish, leading to a decrease in biodiversity and the loss of natural wonders like the Great Barrier Reef. As a result, we need to prevent these issues from growing for the benefit of the ocean.
Reference:
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/ninonina.html (Links to an external site.)
Great Barrier Reef
The Life of My Tree 