Mysteries and dangers

Ten amazing facts about our oceans

Despite their enormous importance for the climate and environment, the world's oceans are being neglected and inadequately protected.

(Bild: © Greenpeace / Geoff Reid)

On the occasion of World Oceans Day on June 8, Greenpeace reveals exciting and frightening facts about the world's oceans.

As silent giants of our planet, the oceans stretch like endless blue carpets across the majority of our planet. The oceans are the beating heart of our planet, providing life and keeping the climate in balance.

They are a magical realm that is home to countless creatures and whose mysterious depths are still full of undiscovered treasures and countless secrets. Despite their enormous importance for the climate and the environment, the world's oceans are neglected and inadequately protected. 

An enormous part of the "blue treasure chest" is still a huge secret for humans - effective protection concepts are lacking.

(Bild: © Tomás Munita / Greenpeace)

The oceans, which stretch as an infinite blue carpet over the majority of our entire planet, cover an incredible 70 percent of our entire planet. An enormous part of this blue treasure trove is still a huge mystery to humans.

Lunar surface better explored than oceans
An incredible 80 percent of the oceans are an unexplored mystery and have not yet been explored or even seen by humans. By comparison, a far greater percentage of the surface of the Moon and Mars has been mapped and explored than our own ocean floor. 

The high seas are home to millions of species and ecosystems, but less than one percent of them are fully protected.

(Bild: © Tommy Trenchard / Greenpeace)

Zusammenfassung

Zehn Fakten über die Weltmeere

1. About 70 percent of the oxygen we breathe is produced by the oceans
2. In recent decades, the ocean has absorbed about 90 percent of the warming of our planet
3. 80 percent of the oceans are an unexplored mystery and have not yet been explored or even seen by humans
4. The high seas - the open ocean, note - are home to millions of species and ecosystems, but less than one percent of them are fully protected. They are under increasing pressure from a range of threats, including industrial fishing, pollution and the rise of deep-sea mining
5. This year, 100 new deep-sea species were discovered in a single expedition
6. But the deep sea is also in acute danger: huge mining machines could tear up the Arctic seabed and destroy the habitat of animals such as orcas and beluga whales forever
7. To protect 30 percent of the oceans by 2030, we need to protect more than eleven million square kilometers of ocean every year
8. In 2023, the global heat content of the oceans was higher than at any time since 1993
9. The oceans boiled every day last year like never before Every single day they set new heat records
10. In total, industrial fishing vessels spent more than 8.4 million hours exploiting the oceans in 2022

Effective protection concepts are lacking
A new analysis of the world's 100 largest marine protected areas shows that there is a lack of effective protection for flora and fauna in the oceans, even within the supposed protected areas.

According to Greenpeace, governments are not delivering on their promises to protect the world's oceans. Instead, harmful activities such as fishing are not being restricted and strategies to protect biodiversity are only being implemented very slowly. 

WWF: "No ocean can swallow this much plastic"
 Marine heatwaves, mass coral bleaching and, most recently, a tragic decline in migratory fish species - these are just some of the warning signals that the oceans are sending us. "The consequences of the climate crisis are becoming ever clearer, overfishing is continuing unabated and plastic pollution is reaching unbelievable levels - no ocean can swallow that much," warns Axel Hein, marine expert at WWF Austria, referring to the eleven million tons of plastic that end up in the sea every year.

"The animal and plant world is literally suffocating on our garbage. Seabirds die in agony from pieces of plastic in their stomachs, turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and fish mistake tiny plastic particles for plankton. And microplastic particles also end up in the food chain."

"Global plastic pollution could triple by 2040 if we don't take action now. Voluntary measures will not stem the tide of plastic," he warns.