By Ravindran Raman Kutty

We cannot survive without the ocean. It is the heart of the planet.

Water covers more than two-thirds of the earth's surface. Sea plants produce 70% of the oxygen we breathe, and the deep waters are home to wildlife and some of the biggest creatures on earth. It provides us with food, jobs, life, entertainment, and the sport of sailing.

The ocean produces more oxygen than the Amazon. Although often thought that rainforests are the primary source of oxygen on the planet, in reality they are only responsible for 28% of the oxygen while oceans provide 70%.

Out of every ten breaths we take, seven come from the ocean, irrespective of our distance from the ocean.

In many ways, the sea regulates our climate. It soaks up the heat and transports warm water from the equator to the poles, and cold water from the poles to the tropics.

Without these currents, the weather would be extreme in some regions, and fewer places would be habitable.

The ocean regulates rain and droughts. Holding 97% of our planet's water, almost all rain that drops on land comes from the sea.

The ocean absorbs carbon dioxide to keep the carbon cycle and the earth's temperature in balance. It is like our global climate control system.

All the creatures that live in the ocean play an essential role in the trophic chain of the ecosystems.

Due to climate change, the ocean has been warming and losing oxygen, and its pH has been decreasing. This causes great disturbance and imbalance to the habitat of our sea life.

We must remember that the ocean is the home for 300,000 species, a home to ocean lovers, and also home to the greatest abundance of life on our planet.

The ocean is the primary source of protein for more than a billion people. Fish accounts for about 15.7% of the animal protein consumed globally although not everything is fish and seafood.

Considering the world population growing by 1.5 million people every week, we are relying on the ocean more and more for survival, and we need alternative and nutritious food sources, like seaweed.

Also, besides providing job an opportunity for sailors, fisherman and islanders, the ocean is also a transport zone. It carries us to new lands and connects us with nature and one another.

The ocean provides 60 million jobs. Recent statistics by the FAO indicate that 59.6 million people in the world are engaged in fisheries and aquaculture, with 90% of the world trade made by sea.

With more than 60% of the world's population living on the coastline, we all depend on a healthy sea just as much as these beautiful creatures. Anti-viral drugs like Zovirax and Acyclovir were obtained from nucleosides isolated from Caribbean sponges; Yondelis, developed from small soft-bodied marine animals, was the first drug of marine origin to fight cancer.

The ocean is therapeutic. When we see, feel, hear, smell or taste water we are happy and at peace.

Research has proven that the so-called blue spaces of the ocean can directly reduce psychological stress and improve our mood.

The best holidays are always close to the water. It is where we swim, surf, sail, dive, chillax, and 'lime'. Family holidays and Sundays are often spent on the beach.

The ocean is a happy zone that we consider our temple, our life, our second home, and our spot for exhilaration.

From the greatness and goodness of the ocean

 we must not overlook the great impediment of the ocean that is plastics. Studies show that on a daily basis, in every minute one truckload of garbage or more than eight million plastic pieces are discarded into the ocean; 29 million metric tonnes of plastic trash that flows into the oceans yearly is expected to nearly triple by 2040.

No one knows for certain the exact amount of virtually indestructible plastic has accumulated in the seas.

In 2020 it was about 245 million metric tonnes. If this continues, by 2040 we will see an increase to approximately 600 million metric tonnes.

The damage we are doing to marine life and our ecosystem is becoming irreparable. Our actions over the ten years will determine the state of the ocean for the next 10,000 years to come.

The plastic waste statistics below tell you everything you need to know about the level of damage we are doing to the ocean's ecosystem, marine life and how it impacts humanity.

20 Shocking Facts of Plastics Pollution:

1. 88% of the sea's surface is polluted by plastic waste.

2. Every day around 8 million pieces of plastic makes their way into our oceans, making that between eight to 14 million tonnes of plastics every year.

3. There is now 5.25 trillion macro and micro pieces of plastic in our ocean and 46,000 pieces in every square mile of ocean, weighing up to 269,000 tonnes.

4. 8.3 billion plastic straws pollute the world's beaches, but only 1% of straws end up as waste in the ocean.

5. By 2020 the number of plastics in the sea will be higher than the number of fish.

6. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, located West Coast of North America to Japan, is around 1.6 million square kilometers – bigger than Texas.

7. Every year, more than one million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals die from plastic pollution.

8. 100% of baby sea turtles have plastic in their stomachs.

9. One in three fish caught for human consumption contains plastic.

10. The world produces 381 million tonnes in plastic waste yearly; this will double by 2034.

11. 50% of this is single-use plastic and only 9% has ever been recycled.

12. The US contributes 38 million tonnes of plastic every year.

13. Plastic packaging is the biggest culprit, resulting in 80 million tonnes of waste yearly from the US alone.

14. Over two million tonnes of plastic packaging are used in the UK each year.

15. On UK beaches there are 5000 pieces of plastic and 150 plastic bottles for each mile.

16. The world uses over 500 billion plastic bags a year – that is 150 for each person on Earth.

17. More than one million plastic bags end up in the trash every minute.

18. Products containing plastic microbeads are considered dangerous where a single squeeze can release 100,000 tiny beads that are estimated to be one million times more toxic than the seawater around it. 

We need to place vital attention and focus on the effectiveness of our waste management in order to save our ocean.

Although current collection and disposal reduces leakage by 55%, by 2040, the number of people requiring waste management services will approach four billion at a cost of $510 billion.

Alternatively, a new study suggests that system-wide changes in our relationship with plastic could yield an 82% reduction in plastic leakage by 2040, at a cost of around $600 billion.

However, it is unclear as to whether governments and industries could accept and implement these changes.

In just five short years, ocean plastic pollution rocketed to the top tier of global environmental causes. This set off several worldwide-level campaigns on saving the environment and reducing the production, usage and disposing of plastic products.

Meanwhile, global plastic production is on pace to increase 40 percent by 2030, and hundreds of billions of dollars are being invested in new plastic production plants, locking in the status quo, according to a report.

As plastic continues to flow into the sea and more plastic products are made, it is clear that the campaigns have failed.

Even if all industry and government pledges to curtail plastic waste are achieved by 2040, a study found they would likely reduce annual leakage into the seas by just a tiny fraction.

Industry has been promising improvements; governments have taken steps. To the world, this will be the first eye-opener in realizing that our current efforts alone are insufficient.

The global trajectory is going in the wrong direction. Clearly, we need a fundamental rethinking of how plastics can be discarded through their single use.

Waste Management has its role, and so does every citizen. Enforcement and education have their respective roles, too, but compassion and conscientiousness have a greater one.

We can penalize, imprison and castigate the offenders, but this will either have little impact or none in ending the problem at hand.

Nature never fails in its responsibility in providing us with our daily needs to survive. It is the human race that takes for granted what nature provides; overuses or misuses its provisions and beauty for our selfish reasons.

We are going to deplete our resources, through our unquenchable desires, wants and lusts.

Let us appreciate and treasure the oceans, as they are our life bank, our life needs, and our life in all needs. 

(Ravindran Raman Kutty is an active social worker.)