QUIZ – The United Nations celebrated Wednesday the World Oceans Day. Essential to life on the planet, barely 10% of their funds are known. Test your knowledge of the seas and oceans.
“Free man, you will always cherish the sea!”. The beautiful dark flight of Charles Baudelaire, fascinated by the waves and their inhabitants, is still relevant. Like all 8 June is celebrated on Wednesday (and from the top of the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit in 1992), World Ocean Day. “Prudent management of this essential global resource is fundamental to a sustainable future,” insists the UN. And intimate knowledge of these water bodies is one of the surest ways to achieve it. We are far.
If the oceans and seas cover just over 70% of our planet, only 1% is protected today. And a majority of life on Earth (50 to 80% according to estimates) is below the water surface, we do know probably a small part (at least 200,000 undiscovered species). It is also estimated that only 10% of these areas below 200 m depth, were explored.
Pollution and destruction
“Nearly 40% of the oceans are considered” severely affected “by human activities, including pollution, dwindling fish stocks, the destruction ‘coastal habitats such as coral reefs, mangroves and seagrasses, and establishment of invasive aquatic species, “says the UN.
Since 1970, the UN has an International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) – the successor to the International Hydrographic Bureau – consultative and technical body responsible for promoting the safety of navigation and protection of the marine environment. Less known than the WHO or UNICEF, IHO yet has control over all aspects of life of the seas and oceans, navigation, navigation charts, resource management, etc.
Why not the Abyss?
Under his leadership will thus take place from 15 June in the Principality of Monaco a big meeting to launch a major plan seas funds mapping and oceans. Thus, over 95% of areas from 0 to 200 meters deep South West Pacific and polar regions are not at all or not well known. For the IHO, it is regrettable that there has been in 25 years, a reduction of 35% of water resources of coastal states to carry out campaigns of bathymetric data collection. France, through IFREMER, is expected to launch several new projects including one named “Why not the Abyss?”
The IHO authority on navigation charts, markers and signal navigation, is also responsible for the classification and definition of the borders between seas and oceans. Test your knowledge of the seas and oceans. Not so simple …
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