RBINS / Oceanography, marine ecosystems
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Marine ecosystems, the coastal zones, the sea floor and the open ocean are subject to climate change, defaunation, biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. This is the consequence of industrial activities at sea and on land (industry, fisheries, agriculture, urbanization). The global amplitude of industrial transformations affects remote areas of the ocean ecosystem (warming, acidification, pollution). Global threats require global action and, therefore, a broad political consensus is needed to end all processes that cause pollution, resource depletion, intoxication and habitat destruction. This includes e.g. opposition to the fossil fuel industry in order to develop sustainable energy, opposition to agribusiness and overfishing to foster agroecology and sustainable fisheries, fighting against deforestation and seafloor overexploitation to restore ecosystems, etc. Political solutions at the collective level are absolutely essential. Personal actions at the individual level are also important because they allow actors of change to accept new political initiatives, and to support and develop them. Moreover, being an actor of change has emancipatory virtues, and provides joy and awareness. Here are my actions:
• Grow some of the vegetables my family needs in a 2 m² garden, buy the rest in organic shops
• Divide my family’s meat intake in half and replace animal protein with legume protein
• Ride a bike (“bakfiets”) instead of driving for daily trips
• Avoid plastic, including in children’s toys
• Educate children by promoting their attention, their wonder and their respect for living things, ecosystems and natural cycles
• Disseminate scientific knowledge through popularized lectures and newspaper articles
• Increase my own political understanding of climate change and climate justice
• Debate and fight against pseudo-science and climate skepticism
• Participate in climate justice and social justice events and demonstrations
• Engage in a political party that places climate and ecology as well as social and fiscal justice at the heart of its agenda
• Recognize and respect the experiences of others, whether successful or unsuccessful
Difficulties are not where I expected them. It’s a pleasure to ride a bike and replace meat with vegetables. Children enjoy understanding the world. More difficult is to find the time to take political action.
Originally posted 2018-08-20 02:08:44.