Ocean Pollution and Marine Conservation

The ocean covers 70% of our planet, produces over half the oxygen we breathe, and feeds billions of people. Yet we are polluting it faster than it can recover, and extracting from it faster than it can replenish. What happens to the ocean does not stay in the ocean.

The ocean is a global commons — no single country owns it, and no single actor is responsible for it. This makes regulation and enforcement extremely difficult, particularly against illegal fishing, which accounts for up to 26 million tons of catch annually. Shipping routes carry 90% of global trade, and with them, chronic pollution: studies suggest that 90% of oil discharged by ships comes not from dramatic spills but from routine illegal dumping of fuel residues, largely undetected in international waters. Plastic already in the ocean is nearly impossible to remove at scale; most efforts can only slow future input. Coastal and island communities that depend most on healthy oceans often have the least power to influence the industrial practices destroying them. And because ocean degradation is largely invisible to most people, the urgency rarely matches the scale of the crisis.

Each dimension of ocean pollution presents different challenges and affects different communities. Pick the one your team wants to dig into, then take it to your worksheet.