What World Oceans Day means for us

We threaten our well-being with our daily impact on the Atlantic, Peter Stoett says.

Oceans play such a crucial role in regulating global climate, providing protein and creating oxygen for billions of people that it is hard to imagine a human future without them. Are we watching this planetary life source collapse before our eyes?

Fish stocks dwindle; warming water bleaches coral reefs; alien species, oxygen-depriving algal blooms and pollution invade our oceans.

But it is easy to ignore these destructive trends here in Montreal, despite sighting the odd sea-bound ship in the Old Port.

At Concordia University, several upcoming events reflect on our obligation as city dwellers far from, yet directly connected to, the Atlantic Ocean, to help save the oceans from their slow death march. On June 8, World Oceans Day, we will screen a new film produced by Plastic Ocean Foundation Canada. (I’ll be on a panel after the screening.) Oceans have become vast dumping grounds of plastic products, which break into long-lasting microplastic, and this threatens the entire food chain. A recent global study suggests that 85 per cent of seabirds and countless fish, turtles and other wildlife have ingested plastic, which chokes and starves them, and affects reproductive rates.

Montreal plays a major role here. As recent flooding reminded us, we are surrounded by freshwater systems that drain into the mighty St. Lawrence River, which offers adventurous pollution a free ride all the way to the Atlantic. Plastic that escapes recycling bins finds its way into the river, and then either settles in sediment, litters the shoreline, or travels eastward and eventually enters the sea. Even cigarette butts, ubiquitous on downtown sidewalks, will often end up as microplastic on the way to the Atlantic. The next time you walk to work, school or the corner store, see how many discarded plastic bags you can pick up. There are always a few lurking about.

Future Earth’s global focus should not relieve us from local responsibilities.

In the fall, Concordia will be offering an exciting new, interactive, free online course we have developed with the United Nations Environmental Program called “Source to Sea to Sustainability,” focused on waste water and nutrient run-off management (sources of those nasty algal blooms). Though offshore oil drilling and tanker spills take their deadly toll, most ocean pollution comes from land-based sources, and we hope Montrealers take the course so they can learn and interact with a global audience and share best practices.

When Montreal dumped a remarkable two billion gallons of raw sewage into the river in 2015, we made an unwelcome splash in the world media. Politicians should use June 8 as an opportunity to publicly promise that infrastructure development will ensure we will never need to do that again.

Concordia University also hosts the secretariat of Future Earth, a major research consortium dedicated to finding solutions to the global challenges of our time. It has established a Knowledge Action Network on ocean sustainability, and we held our first planning meeting last year in Germany. The network has had a vocal presence at the UN World Ocean Conference in New York City underway this week.

Future Earth’s global focus should not relieve us from local responsibilities: Montreal is a major heat island with a big carbon footprint. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the city is vital, because climate change is resulting in rising sea levels and ocean acidification, the influx of invasive species and disrupted migration patterns.

Please celebrate World Oceans Day by learning more about the threats our oceans face and how Montreal is linked to them. When we enjoy coastal vacations and great seafood, we partake in oceanic delights. But when we endanger the distant Atlantic with our daily habits, we threaten our own well-being: human survival and the life of the oceans are intrinsically bound on this blue planet. Peter Stoett is the former Director of Concordia University’s Loyola Sustainability Research Centre. A Plastic Ocean will be screened in Hall 110, 1455 De Maisonneuve Blvd. West, on June 8 at 7 p.m. Free registration on Eventbrite at www.bit.ly/PlasticOceanMTL