Today we celebrate the annual day of the oceans. World Oceans Day takes place every year on June 8. This day is marked to raise awareness of the vital importance of our oceans and the role they play in sustaining a healthy planet – from regulating our climate to generating the oxygen we need to breathe. World Oceans Day 2018 theme focuses on preventing plastic pollution and encouraging for a healthy ocean.

Theme & Importance

The idea of celebrating the Earth’s oceans was originally put forward by the Canadian Government at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio. World Oceans Day has been organised by the Ocean Project group since 2002. In 2008, the day gained official recognition from the UN General Assembly, a boost in raising the profile of the day and its goals.

In 2018, World Oceans Day aims to focus attention on the ‘scourge of plastic pollution’ in our oceans. The theme is prompted by the catastrophic amount of plastic that is ending up in our oceans. Eight million tonnes of plastic end up in the ocean each year, causing eight billion pounds in damage to marine ecosystems each year.

Celebrations

We celebrate World Oceans Day to remind everyone of the major role the oceans have in everyday life. The purpose of the day is to inform the public of the impact of human actions on the ocean, develop a worldwide movement of citizens for the ocean and mobilise and unite the world’s population on a project for the sustainable management of the world’s oceans. Around the world, organisations are hosting beach clean-ups and marches, launching eco-friendly plastic alternatives and announcing campaigns to save our oceans from plastics.

Facts About Plastic Pollution in Oceans

Plastic pollution is causing tremendous harm to our marine resources. According to United Nations, 80% of all plastic pollution in the ocean comes from people on land. Eight million tonnes of plastic per year ends up in the ocean, creating havoc on wildlife, fisheries and tourism. Plastic pollution costs the lives of one million seabirds and 100.000 marine mammals per year.

The change begins from a single individual. It is our duty and obligation to reduce our plastic consumption, especially single-plastic use. Less plastic must be used and recycle the plastic you must use. People are also encourage to use the hashtags #WorldOceansDay and #SaveOurOcean to spread the word on cleaning up our oceans.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 08, 2018 09:36 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).