World Oceans Day is celebrated every year on June 8 and has been since its celebration in Rio de Janeiro at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992. This day serves to remind others of the central role the oceans play in sustaining life on Earth while selling for protection. As global temperatures continue to rise, protecting the oceans has never been more crucial.
Every sector of society has a role to play in regenerating the physical condition of the oceans and fighting climate change, and gambling is no exception. In fact, the relative importance that society places on athletes and the game provides them with an exclusive platform to create meaningful change. LeBron James, Marcus Rashford and Megan Rapinoe are examples of athletes who have championed social causes well. Athletes and sports organizations are now beginning to understand that there is no explanation for why they do not protect the natural environments in which they practice.
Ahead of World Oceans Day, I met with Dr. Sally S. Susie Tomson, Senior Partner at Think Beyond, a social impact and sustainability consultancy focusing on and through gaming and entertainment, Blair Tuke, Olympic gold medallist in sailing and founder of Live Ocean. Charity and Sarah Jackson, professional windsurfer and ocean advocate. During those conversations, we discussed the state of the oceans and how sport can actually affect the environment and help protect our seas.
Blair Tuke grew up in the waters of the Bay of Islands in New Zealand. For him, the link between healthy oceans and a healthy planet is evident: “The ocean is our best friend in our fight against climate change, we cannot communicate about the replacement climate without communicating about the ocean. But our oceans face serious problems.
Prior to becoming a sustainability representative for some of the world’s leading sports organizations, Dr. S. S. Susie Tomson finished her PhD in Integrated Coastal Management and worked in the field of marine and integrated coastal control for more than a decade. According to his expert opinion, 3 main problems are negatively impacting the health of the oceans and coasts lately: emerging temperatures, ocean acidification and increasing typhoon intensity.
The oceans, which cover 70% of the Earth’s surface, act like a sponge, absorbing excess heat and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. They temperature and transport nutrients while keeping the Earth’s temperature solid and its food chain intact. However, climate change is fueling a skyrocketing ocean temperature, which is undermining the balance of Earth’s fragile ecosystems.
According to NASA, the oceans have absorbed 90% of the excess heat generated by greenhouse fuel emissions since the 1970s. This caused ocean temperatures to reach record highs for 15 consecutive months. The sensitive 2,300 feet maximum of ocean water is the maximum at risk, with surface water temperatures rising 24% faster than just a few decades ago.
The warming waters may seem nice to swimmers who are on vacation, but they’re actually harming life on Earth. Tomson notes that more than 3 billion people depend on the ocean for food and that emerging temperatures are creating a chain of negative effects such as algae blooms, coral bleaching, ocean acidification, increased typhoon intensity and rising sea levels.
Dr. Tomson sees ocean acidification as a silent killer. It is a topic that goes unnoticed and little discussed because it occurs under the surface and cannot be noticed with the naked eye.
Our oceans absorb 30% of the planet’s carbon emissions each year. According to NOAA, when CO2 is absorbed in seawater, it creates a series of chemical reactions that increase the acidity point of the oceans. Higher acidity means there are fewer carbonate ions in the water, which “are a vital component of building structures like shells and coral skeletons. “
Changes in ocean chemistry make it difficult for oysters, clams, corals, and other marine life to expand properly. The increase in carbon dioxide also leads to the immediate growth of algae, such as the not unusual “red tide” in Florida, which can have poisonous effects on humans and wildlife.
The oceans produce 50% of the air we breathe and food for billions of people. By burning fossil fuels, humans are choking important ocean ecosystems. more than $400 million a year until 2100 if ocean acidification is not controlled.
Coral reefs are important ocean habitats that are under undue risk due to emerging ocean temperatures. . . . [ ] (Photo via Alexis Rosenfeld/Getty Images).
Warmer waters also mean more powerful storms. Earlier this year, a clinical study expanded the scale of hurricanes to include them in category 6. The study argued that the existing five-category model is outdated due to the effects of climate change. NOAA meteorologists are forecasting the most active Atlantic hurricane season on record this year. They expect between 8 and 13 hurricanes, with a chance of seven above Category 3.
As Dr. Tomson points out, part of the world’s population lives within a hundred kilometers (about 60 miles) of the coast. The storms are already having devastating effects on how other people can move and trade, where they can live, and their food. Sources. An increase in its intensity and frequency would pose an even greater risk to our way of life.
A fourth factor to take into account is that of disconnection. While a portion of the world’s population lives near coastlines, many people, including those living in coastal areas, do not see what is coming down into our oceans. In addition, there are sectors of the population that, through no fault of their own, have little direct connection to the ocean, it is simply out of sight and out of the brain.
Tuke, who spends between 250 and 300 days a year in the water, admits that even he was not aware of or underestimated the importance of our oceans and the threats they face. Sarah Jackson reinforced the concept of disconnection by saying, “I see everything firsthand on a daily basis,” but added that most people don’t see what she and her fellow windsurfers see.
Having noted what he saw, Jackson now considers the physical state of the ocean and climate replacement to be “a pretty concerning issue. “But she says she tries not to get bogged down in the negative and tries to use her athlete’s voice to raise awareness about the issues she sees. .
“People protect what they love, love what they perceive and perceive what they are taught” – Jacques-Yves Cousteau
One of the best ways for sports and athletes to have a positive effect on the environment is to raise awareness and help create a connection between enthusiasts and the topic at hand. That’s exactly what Tuke, Dr. Tomson, and Jackson are. doing.
Dr. Tomson has helped expand carbon fiber recycling systems and oyster recovery projects throughout SailGP and 11th Hour Racing. Tuke created the Live Ocean charity that supports marine science projects, and Jackson campaigns against plastic and sewage pollutants in the oceans. Tuke points out that other people like him, who spend more time in the water, have a duty to speak out about those issues. He says, “If you’re an athlete who cares about something, step up and use your platform for good. “»
Jackson agrees. The two-time windsurfing runner-up says, “As athletes, we have to use our voice to encourage and teach others who follow us. “
In the years since her beginnings at the intersection of play and sustainability, Dr. Tomson has detected a change in focus. In the beginning, gaming organizations focused solely on getting their own houses in order. Today, parts of the industry are actively advocating for social and environmental causes. It’s a far cry from what she called “a lonely journey” when it began.
The unique strength of the sports industry lies in its ability to genuinely teach and attract others to a cause beyond the field. Dr Tomson says: “If we can raise awareness about the ocean and create understanding through sport, other people will. »
Snowboarder Sarah Jackson discovers plastic waste in the water while studying in Tarifa, Spain.
Competition is king in the game, and each and every athlete and gaming organization must be a leader and pioneer. To be a leader on social and environmental issues, the message will need to be authentic, in a different way that enthusiasts will see through it. However, this does not mean that athletes have to be experts or the best at expressing themselves.
Dr Tomson, who has been involved in consultations on sustainability strategies for SailGP, F1, the Premier League and Liverpool FC, says the best thing is to find the why. Once this is understood, an organization or athlete can speak with authority on the subject. of your choice.
For athletes like Jackson and Tuke, who spend most of their waking hours in the water, the fitness of the oceans is paramount in their daily lives. They need to get that message out to the world, even if they’re not experts in ocean fitness. . Jackson admits, “I’m not perfect, I never will be. But she senses that she has the authority and authenticity to communicate about sewage, plastic pollution, and other ocean-related issues, as these are issues she struggles with on a daily basis. daily base while training and trying to compete. By sharing their stories, other people around the world will better understand what’s going on.
Blair Tuke says the catalyst that drove him to create Live Ocean was the round-the-world race in the 2017-18 Volvo Ocean Race. During this time, he felt the brutal force of the ocean and understood its enormity, but also its importance. for a healthy world. As an Olympic gold medalist and multiple world champion in sailing, he has found a way to help protect the environment he loves without having to be an expert.
He says that when founding Live Ocean, he and his partners took a year to figure out how to build their charity and use it to make positive changes. They spoke to network actors, researchers and indigenous people to better understand what Live Ocean’s role could be and made the decision that it would be more productive to use the association’s entire budget for new research.
He and his spouse, Peter Burling, are the face of the partnership. They have the authority to speak out about the ocean’s problems because of their good sailing luck, but the real paintings are going through scenes, where researchers are coming up with new techniques for monitoring. the ocean and solve its problems. Tuke says he’s excited about some of the answers he’s considering, such as the emergence of seaweed, which have a global reach.
Sport will never be perfect, and neither will athletes. Travel and resource use will be a component of the industry, but the important thing is that the industry leaves a positive effect on the communities it touches. For road sports, such as F1 and SailGP, this means creating an effective environmental legacy plan for each and every city they visit. For what Dr Tomson calls static sports, such as cricket, football and rugby, there are opportunities to improve biodiversity around stadiums. and to address problems such as the danger of flooding in their communities.
These small moves may seem inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, but Jackson believes it’s the way forward for athletes. She says, “There are so many things we can do, but if we focus only on what’s bad, we bring a perpetual negative cycle. As an advocate for the oceans, she has spoken out about sewage runoff into UK waters and has discovered tactics to reduce the use of plastic in her own life, adding a reusable water bottle and buying fewer pieces with plastic packaging.
Jackson also tells the story of fellow windsurfer Federico Morisio, an Italian with an engineering background who is lately testing a recyclable windsurfer that he built himself. Windsurfing equipment is made almost entirely of plastic. The way Morisio has his experience is to give back.
Perhaps Jackson’s most poignant point in our verbal exreplace was when he said, “If you can do something positive for the world, then do it, there’s a lot of negative out there. A transparent business card for the rest of the sports industry and its supporters. that have a great ability to create positive renewal and protect our oceans and the plant world.
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