Sylvia A. Earle

THE BLUE HEART OF THE PLANET

Fifty years ago, when I began exploring the ocean, no one, not Jacques Perrin, nor Jacques Cousteau, not Rachel Carson, imagined that we could harm or do anything to the ocean by what we put in or took out of it. It seemed to be a Sea of Eden. But now we know we are facing "Paradise Lost"....

Ninety-seven percent of Earth is ocean. No blue, no green. If you think the ocean isn't important, imagine Earth without it. Mars comes to mind. No ocean, no life-support system. I gave a talk not long ago at the World Bank and I showed this amazing image of earth and said, "There it is: the World Bank. That's where all the assets are." And we have been drawing them down much faster than the natural systems can replenish them. The economy is a wholly owned subsidiary of the environment. With every drop of water you drink, with every breath you take, you are connected to the sea, no matter where on Earth you live.

Most of the oxygen in the atmosphere is generated by life in the sea. Over time, most of the planet's organic carbon has been absorbed and stored there, mostly by microbes. The ocean drives climate and weather, stabilizes temperature, and shapes the Earth's chemistry. Water from the sea forms clouds that return to the land and sea as rain, sleet and snow. And the ocean provides a home for about 97% of life in the world, maybe in the universe. No water? No life. No blue, no green. Yet we have this idea, we humans, that the Earth—all of it—the oceans, the skies, are so vast so resilient, that it doesn't matter what we do to it. That may have been true 10,000 years ago, and maybe even 1,000 years ago. But in the last 100, especially that last 50, we have drawn down the assets—the air, the water, the wildlife—that make our lives possible....

Biodiversity provides stability and resilience....

My wish is that we all use all means at our disposal—talk! films! expeditions! the internet! new submarines!—to create a campaign to ignite public support for a global network of Marine Protected Areas, "hope spots" large enough to save and restore the ocean, the blue heart of the planet.

How much? Some say 10%; some say 30%. You decide: How much of your heart do you want to protect? My wish is a big wish, but if we can make it happen, it truly can change the world and help ensure the survival of what is, as it turns out, actually my favorite species: human beings.

For the children of today, for tomorrow's child, as never again, now is the time.

Called 'Her Deepness' by the New Yorker and a 'Living Legend' by the Library of Congress, Sylvia Earle is an oceanographer, explorer, author, lecturer, and Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society. Sylvia has logged more than 7,000 hours underwater, including solo deep water dives in tiny submarines. Her most recent book is The World is Blue: How Our Fate and the Ocean's Are One. This article was excerpted from a speech given at the 2009 Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) Conference.