Special Guest: Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, Marine Biologist & Conservation Strategist, (note: That is... AWESOME!!)
She is the Founder & CEO of Ocean Collectiv
She is the Founder & CEO of Ocean Collectiv
New York is a coastal city. It has 578 miles of coastline. It's an archipelago*.
There are seahorses living in the Hudson River under piers.
There are whales that pass by in the New York Harbor.
*Archipelago (är-kə-ˈpe-lə-ˌgō): a group of islands (source: Merriam-Webster)
There are seahorses living in the Hudson River under piers.
There are whales that pass by in the New York Harbor.
*Archipelago (är-kə-ˈpe-lə-ˌgō): a group of islands (source: Merriam-Webster)
Ocean Conservation: Why should we care?
Everything's connected. Every river runs to the sea.
What we do... absolutely matters.
Think about agriculture in the middle of the country and all the pesticides that we're using. All of the fertilizers. All of that runs to the sea and causes major pollution problems or causes dead zones and damages fish populations and all sorts of problems.
All the plastic that gets in our waterways, runs to the sea.
Every 4 seconds, a ton of plastic goes into the worlds' ocean.
There are 500X more pieces of plastic in the ocean, than there are stars in the galaxy.
Everything's connected. Every river runs to the sea.
What we do... absolutely matters.
Think about agriculture in the middle of the country and all the pesticides that we're using. All of the fertilizers. All of that runs to the sea and causes major pollution problems or causes dead zones and damages fish populations and all sorts of problems.
All the plastic that gets in our waterways, runs to the sea.
Every 4 seconds, a ton of plastic goes into the worlds' ocean.
There are 500X more pieces of plastic in the ocean, than there are stars in the galaxy.
What's happening?
Everything is changing so quickly. More quickly than scientists had anticipated.
On the plastic front, in the 90s, bottled water became a thing. It's a very recent phenomenon to have everything be disposable. Only 9% of plastic is actually recycled. So, it's all ending up in landfills or in the environment. It doesn't decompose. It's around forever. Basically, every piece of plastic that we've created, is still around with us.
Everything is changing so quickly. More quickly than scientists had anticipated.
On the plastic front, in the 90s, bottled water became a thing. It's a very recent phenomenon to have everything be disposable. Only 9% of plastic is actually recycled. So, it's all ending up in landfills or in the environment. It doesn't decompose. It's around forever. Basically, every piece of plastic that we've created, is still around with us.
NOTHING DISPOSABLE CAN EVER BE SUSTAINABLE.
It doesn't go away. The planet is a closed system.
It doesn't go away. The planet is a closed system.
What can we do?
We can think about our carbon footprint and all the waste that we produce and how we eat and the chemicals we use. But pressure also needs to be put on companies that are creating this problem. We don't have enough better alternatives.
We can think about our carbon footprint and all the waste that we produce and how we eat and the chemicals we use. But pressure also needs to be put on companies that are creating this problem. We don't have enough better alternatives.
What are the expectations?
On the climate front, we expect the temperature to rise several degrees (3-7 degrees F). We don't know exactly but we know that it's continuing to go up because we're continuing to burn fossil fuels. We need to turn that trend around as quickly as possible.
The average global temperature is going up. It's hotter now than it's been in human history. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is greater than it's been during all of human history. We're in this unprecedented moment.
On the climate front, we expect the temperature to rise several degrees (3-7 degrees F). We don't know exactly but we know that it's continuing to go up because we're continuing to burn fossil fuels. We need to turn that trend around as quickly as possible.
The average global temperature is going up. It's hotter now than it's been in human history. The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is greater than it's been during all of human history. We're in this unprecedented moment.
Who is at risk?
Communities of color are the most at risk from climate change. They're already the ones that are the most vulnerable. If you think about poor communities and communities of color on the coast or inland who don't have the resources already, they're the ones getting pummeled by storms. Think about Hurricane Katrina. Think about the hurricane that hit Houston. So, there's been this really strong climate justice movement to bring awareness to that fact that the impacts of climate change and overfishing and pollution are not spread equally. We need to make sure that we're taking care of these vulnerable communities.
Communities of color are the most at risk from climate change. They're already the ones that are the most vulnerable. If you think about poor communities and communities of color on the coast or inland who don't have the resources already, they're the ones getting pummeled by storms. Think about Hurricane Katrina. Think about the hurricane that hit Houston. So, there's been this really strong climate justice movement to bring awareness to that fact that the impacts of climate change and overfishing and pollution are not spread equally. We need to make sure that we're taking care of these vulnerable communities.
As we think about environmental problems,
we should be thinking also about
environmental justice.
we should be thinking also about
environmental justice.
Did you know?
You can actually make 6 figures doing ocean conservation work, doing climate work (for example, an executive at a non-profit). Also, people of color are actually the strongest supporters of good climate and environmental policies in America. Everyone thinks that black people don't care. Black people care. Latinos care. Asian people care.
You can actually make 6 figures doing ocean conservation work, doing climate work (for example, an executive at a non-profit). Also, people of color are actually the strongest supporters of good climate and environmental policies in America. Everyone thinks that black people don't care. Black people care. Latinos care. Asian people care.
What will we miss the most?
Coral reefs could be gone by 2030/2050. You just don't know exactly.
There are about half a billion people that depend on reefs for their nutrition and their livelihoods. We are not just losing something that is cute and beautiful. We're losing are ability to feed ourselves, pay our bills, and take care of our people.
We're also messing up our ability to grow grapes for wine.
We use to have lobster in Long Island Sound and now Maine is getting too warm.
So no more Maine lobster in the future?
Coral reefs could be gone by 2030/2050. You just don't know exactly.
There are about half a billion people that depend on reefs for their nutrition and their livelihoods. We are not just losing something that is cute and beautiful. We're losing are ability to feed ourselves, pay our bills, and take care of our people.
We're also messing up our ability to grow grapes for wine.
We use to have lobster in Long Island Sound and now Maine is getting too warm.
So no more Maine lobster in the future?
How do we prevent the worst from happening?
We need to reduce our fossil fuel use.
Stop emitting carbon into the atmosphere.
Stop emitting carbon into the atmosphere.
We need to protect ecosystems, trees, plants and mangroves** and all these ecosystems that are absorbing carbon. We need to start using pesticides in our foods and polluting and poisoning everything.
**Mangrove: a tropical tree that has roots which grow from its branches and that grows in swamps or shallow salt water (source: Merriam-Webster)
**Mangrove: a tropical tree that has roots which grow from its branches and that grows in swamps or shallow salt water (source: Merriam-Webster)
We need to stop this addiction to single-use plastics.
All of this is possible but it's going to take some really big corporate political and individual shifts in the culture of how we interact with our environment. It's not hopeless but we really have to get our act together. We need to move on this.
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