Human Impact on the Ocean effects our Economy: May 2011

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Marketing Sales and the Dying Ocean.

With the declining ocean habitats many are taking a stand in protecting it by marketing products that contribute to the wealth of research and restoration of the reefs. Many products such as apparel, bracelets, bumper stickers, mugs, and even posters all make profit off of this effort. Proceeds from the product go to enviormental protection and scientific research. There are even adopt a dolphin sites and adopt a reef sites where one can donate money each month or year and they have "adopted" it. This in many ways includes the public and people who may not necessarily be able to make an effort due to disability, or residency, but still want to make a difference. Over all this is a really great revenue and it may be a small contribution to our GDP but it still in some ways effects it.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/recent/beetlejuiced/002-2-1.jpg

http://www.ecouterre.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/selfridges-project-ocean-katharine-hamnett-3.jpg

This Video is one of many that are used to campaign for organizations.

The Media and the Ocean

As I talk about all of the ways the ocean effects the economy, one of the biggest ways it does that is by broadcasting. Not just the economy has ben effected but the urgency to educate the public. T.V. and movie companies are being effected. Millions are being invested into shows educating the public. Animal Planet, Discovery and the National Geographic are examples of the broadcasting networks used. Within those networks there are shows such as Planet Earth, Blue Planet, The Crocodile Hunter, River Monsters, and the most infament Shark Week on Discovery Channel. All over the world it has become a huge phenomenon with trying to reach out to the public and educate them. The world spends a tremendous amount of money on networking, and with our generation now it seems like everything is media based. This is just one more thing that is connected to contributing to our national GDP, and without the harm to the oceans we would have no reason to even have these shows.

http://www.wildlifedocumentaries.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/blueplanet-orig.gif

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41rTuMtde6L._SL500_AA240_.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51iTtRiKcaL._SX500_.jpg

http://blogs.menshealth.com/thecache/files/2010/08/SharkWeek.jpg

Here is a clip from the famous Blue Planet

Government Supports Learning of the Ocean

As our oceans are dying our world is trying harder and harder to study and understand what is really going on, and behind the science of it all. Thousands of dollars a year are spent on independent and governmental research. On top of it the government is paying for the clean up and restoration of the oceans and reefs, and putting out a lot of money. Colleges have started to heavily invest in the schooling and education of young students studying marine life. The thought is that if we reach our students at an early age they can better their learning on the situation and potentially come up with new ways to solve the problems. Also the average young students tend to work better then that of someone older when it comes up to quick ideas and a lot of them, at this point we will do anything. Overall the cost of educating the public and young students is a huge cost in our country. By teaching and educating we might, just might, have a chance at saving it.

http://www.oceanalliance.org/images/education_drPeter.jpg

http://www.wsg.washington.edu/images/probers.jpg

http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/images/stories/aquarius-base-100825-02.jpg

This Video is just some of the many programs out there used to help educate the public!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Our last resort...Captivity

Since our oceans are slowly dying and we all know it, the world has resorted to captivity. The thought is that if the animals are dying in the ocean, then to save the species put them in a tank or confinement away from harm. In some ways this is good for America and the rest of the world. It generates a huge revenue which countries make millions off of zoos and aquariums. Sea World alone had 23.5 million visitors in the last year. That's a lot of money coming into the U.S with just one attraction. Now multiply that by the numerous Aquariums we have here and you got a pretty good amount of money going into our GDP. The bad part about aquariums and captivity is that it is giving the reef a lesser chance of trying to restore itself. In the end all of it comes down to the fact that as a world we have badly damaged the ocean and its inhabitants that it will eventually hurt us big time, if it hasn't already. We wont know the full long term effects of the ocean to our economy until we have nothing left.

http://0.tqn.com/d/saltaquarium/1/0/T/f/clee150greef_400.JPG

http://www.freewebs.com/americandreams2004/sea%20world.jpg

http://cegypttours.com/pics/DolphinShow.jpg

Go here to see the actual amount of money aquariums make, and contribute to the GDP.

http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3953

The ocean feeds our cars.

How many times do you fill up your gas thank a month? Two to three times? Now imagine how many times you do it in a year. That's a lot isn't it? Now take that number and divide in half and that's ho many times you should be thanking the ocean. 40%of the worlds oil and 50% of it's natural gas now come off shore production. The numbers may not seem like a lot but they are. Since it is a major source income and trade for many countries, is very valuable and the topic of weather or not we should continue is a major controversy. Especially with the most recent oil spill. Off shore drilling is harmful to the ocean because it kills many animals and put pollutants in the water. On the other side it is a huge benefit to the United States for making money and trade. We save money by using our own oil verses other countries, and we can make profit off of it. The economy is effected by this all. When we had our oil spill the government had to hire people to clean up. This created a huge inflation of jobs and made a scare in gas so therefore the gas prices for a while were at a record high. All of these things are caused by offshore drilling.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/images/2008/08/01/offshoreoilrig.jpg

http://www.treehugger.com/offshore-drilling-rig-examples.jpg

http://pinkdogink.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/oil_spill_on_fire.jpg

Check this out!
<iframe width="640" height="510" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qeGQctG2wjU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Are Humans the Death Sentence to the Sea?

The answer is yes and no. Let's talk about the "no" first. The ocean is greatly dying and at this point will never get better, but humans can still help while they can. Every little effort helps when it comes to saving the ocean. Jobs have been created to do so, such as wild life protectors, reef restoration, animal conservations and many scientific jobs studying the complex diversity behind it all. Like I said before the ocean is one of the top employers in the world. Now for the sad news. Humans are killing the ocean, slowly but surely its happening and it's to late now. All we can do is help slow down the process and hope our children's children with have the opportunity to experience this miraculous array of life. The Ocean supports the life of nearly 50% of all species on earth. It also provides nearly 50% of the earth's oxygen and 20% of the world's protein supply. Society has yet to appreciate much less protect the wealth of oceans in it's integrity. Primary threats to our oceans are overfishing, habitat degradation, pollution, introduction to alien species and climate change. One central concern is the rapid accumulation of carbon in the atmosphere from burning coal, oil, and gas, which is likely warming the earth's surface. The combination of exploitation, the loss of buffer areas and the rising tide of pollution has suffocated marine life. Upsetting the marine ecosystem in these ways has, in turn given the upper hand to invasive species and changes in climate.

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/time/3418-1.jpg

http://www.truthmove.org/workspace/photos-news/Delray_Sewage_Pic.jpg

http://gogreenstips.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Ocean-Pollution.jpg

http://www.peopleandplanet.net/image.php?id=756

press.com/2011/03/turtle-plastic-bag-under-water-deep-sea-blue-ocean-garbage-trash-ecology-swim-fish-pollution-caught-shell-legs-toes-feet-head-photo.jpg

http://www.teachers.ash.org.au/jmresources/seaweek/seal.jpg

Watch this short video to really see and understand further what mankind is doing to the oceans.

Fun, Fun, Fun but not without the Ocean

To the world when we think of a vacation our first thought that runs through our mind is an island get away. The number one place to go on vacation is somewhere coastal. In the U.S coastal tourism and recreation is the fastest growing service-sector business. Contributing almost $600 billion yearly to the GDP. Not just vacations but living is also huge on the coast. Over 50% of U.S population lives within 50 miles of the coast. The 30 coastal and Great Lake states had 245.5 million people, employed 107.5 milli9on people, and contributed $11.4 trillion to the national GDP. That's a major part of our GDP. The top five income making states in America are coastal states. More then $5.6 trillion was generated from just the coastal states themselves. The coastal states together produce a GDP that is bigger then that of any single country in the world besides the U.S. Approximately 180 million people now visit the the U.S coasts. Population and the pressure of development now make it increasingly less attractive to do so in the near future.

http://onlinegeography.wikispaces.com/file/view/tourism.jpg/81921955/tourism.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBGorDrrVgC5EG6YWmMvwVN7W9u8f1JYvfNJzljtd0iWno6YJ-PWBCrqyG0z_hE5jAfKEZUe0XLPlEaOL97isRD_DfjXNMM5ps54lq9rBI5wO6G0Ep-kg2wlTe-S8kSMVVaNP809ldLPlD/s1600/Tourism_Australia.jpg

This Video and may others are just some of the many ways we get people to come to " A Tropical Oasis".

Source : Swing, John Temple. “What Future for the Oceans?.” Foreign Affairs. Sept./Oct. 2003: 139-152. SIRS Researcher. Web. 11 May 2011.

No Fish. No Food. No Money.

People of the world are greedy. Ever since the beginning of time one always took more. the ore you had the better off you were. it was a sign of superiority to all. Today we still do the same but on a different level. The United nations Agriculture organization estimates that discard of fish alone, not including marine mammals, sea birds and turtles total 20 million tons, that's only 1/4 of annual marine catch. The welfare of more then 20 million people around the world depend on fishing for their income and food security is severely threatened. As fish disappear so do the coastal communities that depend on fishing for their life. The health of more then 1,000,000,000 poor consumers who depend on fish to constitute their diets, is at risk as the growing share of fish is up 83% in value. Fish continue to be exported to industrial countries more and more each year. For example the harvesting of trigger fish and puffer fish as souvenirs have hurt the heart of the reef food-chain. As these fish decline population of their prey for example sea urchins, exploded, damaging the coral by grazing on the protective layers of the algae and hurting the tropical reef diving industry. The Diving Industry is one of the top money making recreational activities in the world. If there are no fish a huge source of the worlds income and GDP will be gone. Coral Reefs alone are estimated to be worth $375 billion dollars annually by providing fish, medicine, tourism revenues and coastal protection for more then 100 countries. So what will happen if we have no fish? the rapid increase in fish capture has not come without a price. Tuna and cod supplies as well as those of shrimp and other animals lower in the food chain all have come under threat. more then 36 million people currently depend on wild fisheries and aquaculture for their livelihoods. in Asia alone 80% of coral reefs are at risk and could suffer total collapse in 20 years. 90% of all large fishes have disappeared from the worlds oceans as a result of overfishing. Experts say this is the most severe impacts on both the enviorment and society. In 2004 the ocean dependent economy generated $138 billion or 1.2% of the U.S GDP. Coastal tourism and recreation dominated both employment and GDP in the ocean economy. The ocean holds 1.7 million jobs (75%) of employment and nearly $70 billion (51%) of GDP. If we have no fish of reefs then you should just scratch all of that information and call us doomed.

http://fish101-spring2011.community.uaf.edu/files/2011/05/overfishing1.jpg

http://www.worldculturepictorial.com/images/content_2/overfishing-ocean-depletion.jpg

Go to this site for more simple visuals in understanding the effects of overfishing.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.fspi.org.fj/coastalold/images/posters/eng/lg_OverFishing_prevents_reproduction.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fspi.org.fj/coastalold/program/coastal/awareness_postersnew.htm&usg=__Hg2AM9fi6PlfCHScIxVvNTAv0UA=&h=1163&w=813&sz=156&hl=en&start=50&sig2=o4PmrnHt1kg5XP6E-7GPLA&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=Cn8G4VC7JTV4EM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=105&prev=/search%3Fq%3Doverfishing%26start%3D40%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D20%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D848%26tbm%3Disch&ei=NbTSTflaidGIAtPQ4N8K

Sunday, May 15, 2011

No Ocean, No Job.

One out of every six jobs in the U.S. is marine related. That's alot of jobs! Our Country is so dependent on the ocean not just for trade but for making a living too. If we have no jobs that means no money for America, and America is all about making money. But what most people dont relize is that alomost half the jobs in America are "ocean related", so if there is no ocean there are no jobs, for the majority of the country. The ocean alone employes nearly 54.5 thousand people and makes over $7 billion GDP in jobs such as Fish Hatcheries & Aquaculture, Fishing, Seafood Markets, and Seafood Processing. U.S consumers spend $55 billion- plus for fishery products every year. consumers cant buy unless there are people to work the industries in which they are buying from. This is a example of a symbotic realtionship. bolth parties doing something to benefit eachother. The worker is making the product and obtaining money from the consumer buying it, the more people buy, the greater need for workers. together they go hand in hand.Over all America and other countries are highly dependent on the ocean for a job or some kind of work.

http://cdn.wn.com/pd/f8/82/bcefb8578ff760ed4a4397ab44db_grande.jpg

http://www.manandmollusc.net/links_career.html

Click here to see a list of all the jobs one could have pertaining the ocean.

Made In China

Many of us dont think about how it products get on the shelf or the market when we are buying fresh fish, canned tuna, or simply any major consumer item, but its all transported by the ocean. U.S. maritime transport carries 95% of the nations trade making marine transportation the second largest GDP in the world with an adverage of $27.6 Billiona year, thats 20% of the oceans economy. Tradein the ocean effects us all. People wouldn't have half of the products and goods we have now, ocean realated or not, it affects all goods. walk around your house and really start looking at the manifactures of everything, and where its made from. I promise you more then half of the products you have in your house have been made or shipped from overseas. Now imagine only having things in your house that are are made in america. You'llend up with a pretty empty house. Even if it says it's made in America that doesn't mean all of it was made here in America. Most generaly unfinished pieces of the product are made overseas, and then transported by boat and put together in the states. Over all Transportation using the ocean is highly important to the economy. Without it trade would be a heck of a lot harder, and our resources would be limited. But most of all we would be loosing money because we would no longer have one of the most important ways of imports and exports.

hill-delamain.co.zm

http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/St-Ts/Transportation.html

Go to this We Page to Learn about the history and importance of Oceanic Trade.

Dunbar, Rob. "Ocean Effects on the Economy." Center for Ocean Solutions. Center for Ocean Solutions, 2011. Web. 12 May 2011. <http://www.centerforoceansolutions.com/>.