Humanity’s future depends on protecting the rapidly changing ocean

Published 7 June 2026 · finance

However, it has been under duress for some time and going forward faces multiple threats which not only gravely endanger its future health but the

However, it has been under duress for some time and going forward faces multiple threats which not only gravely endanger its future health but the future of humanity itself. Some 550 experts from 86 countries have spent almost five years compiling a 1600-page assessment detailing the challenges the ocean faces. This scientific guide delivers the knowledge humankind needs to protect and sustain the planet. It’s called the World Ocean Assessment, and here’s what those 1600 pages reveal. The ocean matters to everyone, everywhere The ocean shapes everyone’s daily life even if they do not live in coastal zones. It stabilizes the climate by absorbing most of the planet’s excess heat as well as damaging greenhouse gases. Without its cooling effect, more extreme weather can be expected which will threaten food systems and supply chains, and insurance markets. It serves as food supply. When fish stocks collapse or supply chains break due to climate impacts or illegal fishing, prices rise, not just for seafood, but for many foods that rely on global trade and coastal economies. It provides mental and physical health benefits, medicines, and a significant share of breathable oxygen. The ocean supports trillions of dollars in global trade, tourism, and jobs. The ocean is under intensifying stress Humans are reshaping marine ecosystems. The global population reached 8.2 billion in 2024, with 37 per cent of those people living within 100 km of the coast.

© Ocean Image Bank/Dipayan Bose Inevitably, this has concentrated human and economic activity in vulnerable coastal zones, increasing the extraction of natural resources, infrastructure expansion, waste discharge, and habitat degradation. At the same time, offshore development is intensifying, with wind farms, deepwater oil infrastructure, and expanding seabed cables and pipelines altering habitats farther from shore. Climate change is transforming conditions Data relating to ocean warming and sea level rise is dramatic. The rate of sea level rise, due to melting ice caps and temperature-driven water expansion, has doubled from up to1.9 mm/year before 2015 to 4.3 mm/year in 2023. Arctic temperatures are rising four times faster than the global average. Hypoxic (or dead) zones, where oxygen levels are so low that most marine life cannot survive, now span 4.5 million km². 16 per cent of the total increase in ocean temperatures since 1955 has occurred after 2018. © Ocean Image Bank/Vivek Mehra Biodiversity is declining across nearly every marine habitat Marine life is under severe stress, reflected in the approximately 80 per cent decline in Caribbean coral reefs since the 1970s. Ninety per cent of global coral reefs may disappear if warming exceeds 1.5°C above industrial levels. Critical coastal ecosystems, like mangroves and seagrass, continue to shrink. Species from plankton to marine mammals are shifting towards the North and South Poles as temperatures rise, while non-indigenous species are spreading more easily under altered environmental conditions.