Photosynthetic organisms in the sea yield most of the oxygen in the atmosphere, take up and store vast amounts of carbon dioxide, shape planetary chemistry, and hold the planet steady.
SYLVIA EARLETake away the ice and snow, increase the temperature by even a little, and the realm that makes their lives possible literally melts away.
More Sylvia Earle Quotes
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Earth as an ecosystem stands out in the all of the universe.
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You don’t stand around arguing about who’s responsible, or who’s going to pay.
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When I arrived on the planet, there were only two billion. Wildlife was more abundant, we were less so; now the situation is reversed.
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When I first ventured into the Gulf of Mexico in the 1950s, the sea appeared to be a blue infinity too large, too wild to be harmed by anything that people could do.
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The ocean certainly got my attention! It wasn’t frightening, it was more exhilarating.
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Look at the bark of a redwood, and you see moss.
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People still do not understand that a live fish is more valuable than a dead one, and that destructive fishing techniques are taking a wrecking ball to biodiversity.
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To lose it means that we will dismember the vital systems that make the Arctic work. It’s not just a cost to the people who live there. It’s a cost to all people everywhere.
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That, in turn, influences the temperature of the planet. The Arctic is now vulnerable because of the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, with a rate of melting that is stunning.
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You should be afraid if you are in the ocean and don’t see sharks.
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We need to respect the oceans and take care of them as if our lives depended on it. Because they do.
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My first encounter with the ocean was on the Jersey Shore when I was three years old and I got knocked over by a wave.
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I’m not against extracting a modest amount of wildlife out of the ocean for human consumption, but I am really concerned about the large-scale industrial fishing that engages in destructive practices like trawling and longlining.
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The fragility, and even the degradation of our planet’s blue heart.
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Forty percent of the United States drains into the Mississippi. It’s agriculture. It’s golf courses. It’s domestic runoff from our lawns and roads. Ultimately, where does it go? Downstream into the gulf.
SYLVIA EARLE