INTRODUCTION to World Oceans Day
All about World Oceans Day: – The oceans are primordial stimulators to make the Earth the home of humanity. They cover 75% of the surface and their physical, chemical, and biological properties make the marine environment fundamental for the existence of life on our planet. As pointed out by the United Nations, “our rainwater, drinking water, climate, climate, coastlines, much of our food and even the oxygen in the air we breathe are supplied and regulated by the sea”
The oceans have played an important role in the history of civilizations. Its characteristics generate the conditions of possibility to exploit or influence the political, economic, social, environmental, and military sectors. Its importance has evolved, mainly thanks to the possibilities offered by maritime spaces for trade, the exploitation of natural resources, the transport of people, military operations, and, above all in the past, the dissemination of ideas.
According to Bertrand Russell, philosophy and science first appeared in Miletus, as the city was an important trading port where people of different cultures could meet, thus contributing to the diversity of ideas
The oceans have also become an important source of biological and energy resources and minerals. This importance tends to grow as new research and technologies demonstrate the potential of ocean resources and allow their economic exploitation.
The influence of the sea also extends to coastal areas, where most of the world’s population lives, and is therefore subject to climate changes affecting the marine environment.
The purpose of this contribution is to defend what I call “the enabling force of the oceans”, characterized by its role in the maintenance of human life on Earth, in the generation of wealth for nations, in the movement of goods and people, and in military facilitation.
Power projection. I do not repeat here what is known of the first three characteristics of the oceans. My goal is rather on the strategic military aspect of the seas. However, since wealth, trade and maritime power are interrelated, I quote them whenever it is necessary to support my argument.
First, I describe, very briefly, the relationship between maritime power, trade, and globalization, and then explain how the enabling power of the oceans allows nations to use their military power to exert influence in situations of war and peace.
While technological advances and the emergence of post-industrial societies are reducing the importance of geographical factors, the physical environment remains an important element in understanding international politics. In this context, the oceans stand out because they are an important facilitator for generating wealth, maintaining the maritime routes of communication between the continents, and projecting military power all over the world.
For Alfred T. Mahan, the sea is a great road, open to all, which allows the free flow of people and goods. He points out that the history of maritime power shows an enormous influence of maritime transport on the trade, wealth, and power of nations and, at the same time, reveals how disputes and economic competition involving the sea often culminate in armed conflicts.
However, Mahan does not precisely define the concept of maritime power. Sometimes it refers to this as the ability of military power in the naval expression to control the sea, and at other times it uses it as a set of maritime commercial activities, access to markets, and possession of colonies that contribute to the wealth and power of a nation.
To clarify the concepts, I define maritime power as the ability of a state to exploit or influence the range of sea-related activities in the political, economic, social, environmental, and military sectors. Naval power is the military component of maritime power.
According to Mahan, trade and politics are interconnected and nations are united by their interests in such a way that everything forms an articulated system. This system is what today has been called globalization. This phenomenon has significantly increased the flow of information and financial and commercial transactions, while increasing the interdependence between nations, with direct consequences on the flow of information.
Globalization and maritime power are therefore closely connected. Every time the globalization process intensifies, maritime power develops and vice versa. In terms of economic importance, globalization has increased the flow of commercial transactions, which has generated an extraordinary development of maritime transport, which represents about 80% of total global trade measured in volume and 70% of total world trade measured in value.
According to a report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in 2015 89,464 merchant ships were serving at sea. This system is so important that it can be said that “maritime transport continues to be the backbone of international trade and globalization.
The process of globalization has contributed to the expansion of the global maritime system. As indicated by Reason and Freyman, “all the economies of the world […] depend for their prosperity on uninterrupted world trade”. Although most nations participate and benefit from this system, those with the greatest maritime power have the greatest benefits.
Mahan believes that the main elements that influence a nation’s maritime power are its geographical location, the size of its coast and the number of areas suitable for good ports, the number of its population, and the inclination of its population to sea-related activities and your government’s ability to produce good policies.
More recently, Erik Grove has updated these elements by dividing them into elements of the first order: economic strength and technological capacity and socio-political culture; and second-order elements: geographical location, dependence on maritime trade, sea resources, and government policies and perceptions.
Therefore, there is a virtuous circle in which the economic strength and technological capacity of a nation encourage the improvement of its maritime power, which, in turn, helps to strengthen the economic strength and technological capacity of the nation.
The expansion and importance of economic and financial activities linked to globalization have also brought consequences to the international security and defense system after the Cold War.
Although, on the one hand, the world trade market facilitates cooperation between nations, on the other it encourages competition that can lead to conflicts. Warships and navies initially created to protect maritime trade from the early Mediterranean civilization, are now primarily responsible for the safety of this globalized maritime system.
The United States of America, whose economy depends to a large extent on international trade and fully benefits the maritime trading system, has committed itself to maintaining the safety of the seas and exploiting the enabling power of the oceans for their projection. of military power To exercise its leadership in world politics.
The power of the oceans, which allows the free flow of people and goods, as mentioned above, is also fundamental for the projection of military power throughout the world.
The oceans favor the mobility of naval forces to operate in international waters and access to coastal areas near the coasts, where half of the world population lives less than 60 km from the sea, and three-quarters of them are all large cities. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea safeguards freedom of navigation so that naval forces can operate legally in international maritime areas or approaches to the nation’s territorial waters.
Mobility allows naval forces to operate for long periods over long distances as they prepare for combat. These forces are versatile, in the sense that they can perform different tasks and requirements. Furthermore, they have the flexibility to model naval units into smaller or larger workgroups, depending on the mission to be performed. These missions are designed to control maritime areas, excluding them from the sea.
According to Julian S. Corbett, men live on land and sea, for fear of what a fleet allows your army to do. The main concern, therefore, of maritime strategy is to determine the mutual relations of his army in a plan.
The main role of land forces in war is not to reduce the importance of other components of military power. War usually depends on the armed forces, so the maritime strategy must be developed as a whole, which is integrated to succeed. The effects of maritime power influence events in the country, contributing to the nation’s political goals in war and peace.
The Second World War is a clear example of the strategic contribution of maritime power to the events that take place on earth. The economic power of the adversary during disputes over the control of the sea. When the Allies established a certain degree of control of the sea, the forces of the army, carried by sea, were projected onto the earth to fight the battles that led to victory.
In the campaigns of the Pacific War, the control of the sea by the United States allowed the economic suffocation of Japan. Therefore, both economic suffocation and the projection of power on earth are fundamental to winning a war.
Even Mearsheimer, who defends the primacy of earth power, recognizes the control of the sea as “the decisive factor in that conflict”. World War II victory World War II, the largest center of potential gravity, earth.
According to Colin Gray, the sea is the only way to transport goods in the region. Moreover, naval power has an important advantage: “the ability to control the geostrategic terms of combat in the war, according to who controls the sea, water is a road capable of developing a great maritime power., for example, believes that Norman Friedman the United States will see threatened only by a hostile country that is capable of a great economic and technological capacity that allows becoming a global maritime power: to transform the natural barrier of North America ‘(2001: 15), in this context, the concept of stopping water force ‘, defended by Mearsheimer, is linked to a disability of the state of power in the sea, a special feature of the oceans that could critically influence the war.
Maritime waters are the highways for those who can exploit the enabling power of the oceans for peace or war. These roads allow the power to have the greatest power in the world.
Global reach can take great power to protect their interests, influence other countries, and maintain international order. As Moldelsky and Thompson have said, “Maritime power is the sine qua non of global politics because it is a necessary (though not sufficient) condition of global operations”.
The oceans are fundamental to our life on Earth in fields such as political, economic, environmental, and military. The physical, chemical, and biological properties of the marine environment are fundamental for the existence of life on our planet.
Furthermore, the oceans are a source of energy and other natural resources and roads, which connect the continents, contributing to the globalization process and the wealth of nations. These characteristics give them what I call the ocean’s enabling power. This power plays a crucial strategic role in world politics, further influencing events on earth.
For those who can control the sea, it is considered a motorway, and for those who cannot control it, can be seen as a barrier. I know that “stopping water power” is more than a state of inability to control earth power over a vast area of water, which causes the oceans to be a “prohibitive barrier,” like the Mearsheimer defense.
Allowing the oceans to continue to provide a nation to become a great power with the advantage of controlling and making use of the oceans in the war to influence global politics.
World Oceans Day is celebrated on June 8th. The concept was initially proposed in 1992 by the Canadian International Center for Ocean Development (ICOD) and the Oceanic Institute of Canada (OIC) at the Earth Summit – The Brundtland Commission, namely the World Commission on Environment and Development, inspired by a world oceans day.
The Brundtland report of 1987 noted that the ocean sector lacked a strong voice compared to other sectors. In the first World Oceans Day of 1992, the objectives were to move the oceans from the outside to the center of discussions and intergovernmental policies and NGOs and to strengthen the voice of coastal and ocean constituencies around the world.
Since 2002, a concerted effort has been made to promote World Oceans Day as a unique opportunity to celebrate the ocean, and our connections and make a real difference.
The Ocean Project, in collaboration with leading organizations from all sectors, including the World Ocean Network, the Association of zoos and aquariums, and many others in its network of 2,000 organizations, has promoted World Oceans Day since 2002 and together with World Ocean Network. He led a four-year global petition movement to secure official UN recognition. Every year more organizations around the world celebrate World Oceans Day. A little more about the story can be found here.
In 2008, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution that officially recognizes 8 June as “World Oceans Day”, in force since 2009, through Resolution 63/111 (paragraph 171). [2] As such, the UN Division of Oceanic Affairs and the Law of the Sea, Office of Legal Affairs, promote the celebration of this UN International Day.
In 2014, the United Nations launched the annual amateur photography competition for World Ocean Oceans Day.
History of World Oceans Day
On June 8 of each year, we celebrate the ocean, its importance in our lives, and how each of us can protect it, regardless of where we live. World Oceans Day raises the profile of the ocean, connects people around the world, and inspires continuous action throughout the year to protect and restore this incredible resource on which we all depend.
The Ocean Project helps guide the global promotion and coordination of World Oceans Day. Since 2002, we have collaborated in collaboration with hundreds of organizations and networks of all sectors to help unite the world around 8 June and continue to increase commitment and act for our shared ocean throughout the time.
Over the past two decades, our global network of partners around the world has grown to include more than 2,000 organizations, including youth groups, aquariums, zoos, museums, and groups representing sailors, divers, swimmers, and other recreational interests, in l maritime and religious industries.
Every year, a growing number of countries and organizations mark June 8 as an opportunity to celebrate our global ocean and our connection to the sea.
Thanks to the Government of Canada for having proposed the concept of a World Oceans Day at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. In 2002, when the Ocean Project began to promote and coordinate globally the development and activities of the World Day of the Oceans, there were only a handful of events in some countries.
Now, there are thousands of events in more than 120 countries and social networks extend to several billion. To help increase the recognition of World Oceans Day, together with the World Ocean Network and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, between 2004 and 2008, we developed and widely disseminated a petition for the United Nations to officially recognize World Oceans Day on June 8 of each year.
As a result of working with hundreds of partner organizations and thanks to tens of thousands of people from all over the world who have signed online and paper copies of the petition, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in December 2008, officially recognizing the June 8 as World Oceans Day every year.
Several years ago, The Ocean Project created a World Oceans Day Advisory Council for Youth, aimed at young people from around the world to help us expand the reach and impact of World Oceans Day on June 8 and with a continuous commitment throughout the year. Advisory Council members are essential to help shape the development of World Oceans Day as it grows, providing new and unique perspectives and ideas.
To help increase the reach and impact of World Oceans Day and then use these connections for participation throughout the year, The Ocean Project conducts proactive outreach activities to all sectors and brokers throughout the year to increase awareness and participation in this unique opportunity to celebrate our shared ocean of the world and ways of acting, regardless of where you live.
In 2003, we created a central website for World Oceans Day, to help event organizers around the world. Every year we develop the main theme of conservation action, as well as new promotional resources and viable tools, including an annual social media campaign for World Oceans Day, for organizations and people to use when they want to attract their target audience.
WHY “WORLD OCEANS DAY”?
World Oceans Day is celebrated every year with the aim of saving the oceans and honoring the creatures of the oceans while maintaining the balance of life on earth. Day after day, the increase in human populations and modern advanced technologies with different batches of by-products are the main reasons for the deterioration of the ocean.
Oceanic Project and Oceanic World Network have been collaborating for years on this project to save the ocean. They have promoted more than 1600 ocean conservation organizations around the world to collaborate on this project for more effective and faster recovery of ocean conditions.
They have created a series of effective awareness-raising campaigns to be carried out, such as beach clean-up, art competitions, educational programs, sustainable fish events, discussion events, etc. for people to act
In the first celebration of World Oceans Day, the variety of ways in which society is saved to save the oceans around the world has been highlighted. It allows everyone to understand all the challenges that lie ahead in the regulation of the global climate to maintain the ecosystem and the adequate sustenance of human beings.
It is celebrated to save the ocean from criminal activities, such as illicit drug trafficking, drainage tools, human trafficking, and threatening activities that ruin ocean peace and security.
Ocean conservation is highlighted through unique themes in the annual celebration. People know the importance of all oceans through many activities. People are motivated to save all water resources, such as rivers, ponds, etc. Some of the objectives are mentioned
> Motivate the public to change their attitudes by encouraging them to understand the need and importance of the oceans in their daily lives.
> Motivate people to learn about important oceanic creatures and their role in maintaining the ecosystem cycle.
> Encourage the conservation of oceans around the world by encouraging everyone to become a good guardians of the oceans and other water resources.
Why World Oceans Day is important?
An ocean of a healthy world is fundamental to our survival. Every year, World Oceans Day offers a unique opportunity to honor, protect and preserve the shared ocean of our world. The ocean is important because:
- It helps us feed
- Regulates our climate
- Clean the water we drink
- Offers a pharmacopeia of medicines.
- Provide unlimited inspiration!
- Now each of us can come back
Attend an event or activity on World Oceans Day this year and help protect the ocean for the future. It is up to each of us to help ensure that our ocean is healthy for future generations. World Oceans Day allows us to:
Change the perspective: encourage people to think about what the ocean means to them and what it offers us all with the hope of preserving it for present and future generations.
Learn: discover the richness of different and beautiful ocean creatures and habitats, how they are influenced by our daily actions, and how we are all interconnected.
Change our ways: we are all connected to the ocean! By taking care of your garden and helping in your community, you are behaving like a guardian of our ocean. Making small changes to your daily habits will make a difference and involving your family, your friends, and your community will bring even more benefits to our blue planet!
Take the time to think about how the ocean affects you and how you do it, then organize or participate in activities that celebrate our ocean.
Saving our ocean is the responsibility of all the people who live on earth and not only those responsible for it. It is a global responsibility to save the ocean and the creatures that live in it to achieve a natural and equal balance of life on earth. Do you know that a third of our land is full of water and we must have land, water, and marine life, from the danger of global warming?
World Oceans Day was established as a big step (with the Ocean Project and World Ocean Network association) to celebrate every year all over the world to save the balance of water and lives on land.
Facts and events Related to World Oceans Day
• The Earth is covered by water on 71% of its surface, and 96.5% of that water is in the oceans.
• The theme of the 2017 World Oceans Day is Our Ocean, our future.
• It is estimated that 50-80% of all life forms on Earth are below the surface of the oceans. The oceans comprise 99% of the entire living space of the planet.
• If all the ice on Earth had melted, the oceans would have risen to 66 meters and flooded the entire plain.
• The lowest point of the planet is found in the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific. The point, known as Challenger Deep, has a depth of 11,034 m. (Mount Everest measures only 8,848 m).
• We are tied to the ocean. And when we return to the sea, either to say or to look, we will come back to where we came from. – John F. Kennedy
World Oceans Day Main events and things to do
• If you live near an ocean, spend some time swimming in the water, sailing, sailing, or simply walking on the beach. If you don’t live near the ocean, plan a trip to enjoy the ocean.
• Get your dive license. Each city offers diving courses to prepare you to see the underwater world. PADI and SDI are two recognized and accredited companies that offer certification courses. You can’t dive without certification.
• Watch one of the many ocean documentaries. Some of our favorites: The death of the oceans, the waste island, the plastic seas, the deep sea, and the acid test: the global ocean acidification challenge
• Clean the water’s edge or adopt a local shore and do your part to help the oceans and their wildlife. The World Oceans Day website offers several tools to help configure these activities.
Activities on the World Oceans Day
World Oceans Day is celebrated every year by organizing various events and activities throughout the year. Some of the events organized are organizing information booths, snack distribution, sample collection, Bay Beach exit, clean beach with family and friends, distribution of posters relating to Ocean Day award ceremonies for students and teachers, class presentations, demonstrations, coloring contest, related online videos, photo contests, fossil hunting tours, etc.
The oceans are an essential part of life on earth and are very necessary to maintain the balance of the ecosystem. The oceans are a fundamental part of the biosphere and the most important source of healthy foods and medicines. World Oceans Day provides the opportunity to celebrate in one place the natural balance of climate, weather, food, and oxygen with many economic, environmental, and social benefits. Some of the awareness-raising activities that promote the common public to save the oceans are:
> Do your best to protect your water resources.
> Save your ocean by preventing it from spilling chemical waste, waste, or other products.
> Reduces the use of fertilizers and pesticides.
> Use an alternative method of pest control and the appropriate disposal system for all hazardous household waste.
> Follow all waste and pollution control practices.
How to participate in World Oceans Day 2019
World Oceans Day, the global annual event dedicated to the greatest threats to our oceans will take place on 8 June 2019. This year’s theme is “Gender and the Ocean” and will focus on I promote equality of genus in ocean conservation. , as well as increasing awareness of plastic pollution and how small steps can make a big difference in saving our oceans.
Participate in all. There are hundreds of events taking place around the world. Choose your favorite and get stuck! A selection of events is available for the most famous events of this month for the days:
America
United States: Coralpalooza: head to Key Largo, Florida to participate in this year’s Coral Reef project. Aqualon, which has the Open Water Scuba certification (and the 12-mile sea estuary) can immerse itself in the stretch of Florida’s coral reef and help overcome the corals of the largest coral nursery in the world.
United States: International Ocean Film Tour: go to the Mote Florida marine aquarium on June 6th of the sexual editor of the International Ocean Film Tour presenting some of the most inspiring environmental documentaries, oceanic adventures, and videos on water sports last year.
United States: Ocean Week on Capitol Hill: presentation of the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, CHOW will bring together world leaders and stakeholders to discuss a wide range of relational issues with the protection of the world. There will also be an Ocean Prize Gala in honor of the marine administration champions with tickets available for the public to buy them.
United States: World Oceans Day at the San Francisco Zoo: visit the only zoos along the sea for a special celebration of our blue planet. The zoological of San Francisco presents the show of the International Festival of Oceanic Cinema and the Great Hall during the period.
United States: The Hudson River Loop: in a city that never sleeps, if you can say that it is in an exceptional situation. This World Oceans Day, at that time, a child’s play with a series of 30-thousandth songs to create me with the sobriety of the cause. Particularly in gigantic marine-themed human formations and stuck in street cleaning in the State Park of Freedom and Riverside Park West. The day ends with a barbecue.
United States: Hawaii World Ocean Day: celebrates the Maui Ocean Center Night. The day begins with a clean-up of the beach and coral reef, followed by live local music, a 3D show about Hawaii’s humpback whales, coconut cards, hula lessons, and more. There is also the North Shore Ocean Fest at the Turtle Bay Resort, on Oahu, with a price of 5 km for salvation. So make sure you say goodbye to a BIG MAMA, a natural-sized inflatable humpback whale.
Brazil: Clean the ocean: join the local scout groups in Beira Mar for a day of beach cleaning and plastic pollution education that is affecting our oceans.
The Galapagos: the opening facade of the Charles Darwin Foundation, while the archipelago is more than 1000 kilometers from the coast, the sound is not immune to the effects of marine pollution
Europe
United Kingdom: Ocean Talks: celebrates the Royal Geographic Society of London, Ocean Talks will bring together some of the most important environmental activists and marine experts in the world to discuss the problem of plastic pollution and discover solutions to some of the major problems facing the oceans of the world.
Ireland: Seafest: That will take place from 7 to 9 June in Cork, Seafest celebrates all things marine. The 2019 event is underway with the photo of the blue planet Doug Allan, most of the flyboarding champions in the world, sustainable fish cooking lessons, navigation workshops, and many workshops and educational activities. In addition, on board the marine research vessel, the RV Celtic Explorer.
Gibraltar: The great beach of Gibraltar Cleans: a natural environment for the environment and the enticers in 45th Great Gibraltar Beach Clean The collected waste is sent to a local recycling plant to be weighed, classified, and recycled so that it does not end up in landfills or at sea.
France: Fâte de L’Océan: from 6 to 9 June, the Ocean Festival is held in Paris with numerous events to celebrate the oceans of the world. From exhibitions at the National Museum of Natural History to film concerts, to art exhibitions, to the film seen in the ocean in the tropical aquarium, there is much to do.
Asia
Thailand: World Oceans Day on Koh Tao: the island is famous for its beautiful canals, but that does not mean that it is immune to plastic pollution. The New Heaven Reef Conservation Program organized an activity day to save the ocean, including cleaning, workshops, and even a special guest.
Philippines: cleaning waterways: Join local scouts to help clean up the Calapan River, one of the most polluted in the country, which extends over 11 kilometers through the city of Calapan in eastern Mindoro.
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Sagarmatha National Park, Nepal, A Gateway of Mount Everest
Africa
Kenya: World Oceans Day in Mombasa: from 7 to 9 June, 100 young people change to take a 495 km journey in a convoy from Nairobi to Mombasa, the largest and longest road trip awareness of the oceans in East Africa. The initiative, organized by the World Youth Biodiversity Network, will highlight the importance of ocean conservation in local communities, initiate discussions and invite you to join the beach cleaning along the way.
Mozambique: #VILANKULOLIVIVEREDPAST – Join the local community of Vilankulo in Mozambique for a clean beach in the area and help recover the plastic in the Bazaruto National Park area.
South Africa: the challenge of the oceans of the day Plett: Fat Fish in Plettenberg Bay led an initiative to remove three particular disposable plastics in the area of catering in the area: plastic straws, candies for individually packaged Dinners, and takeaway containers. Launched on April 10th, the day of the challenge Plett Oceani culminates in a clean beach to celebrate establishments committed to creating a free plastic, Plett.
Oceania
Australia: cleaning on the Costa Dorada of the World Oceans Day – conservation organization Humpbacks & High-ups invites you to clean the beach of Burleigh Beach, Queensland.
Author: Hari Adhikari
