The Ocean Decade—Opportunities for Oceans and Human Health Programs to Contribute to Public Health
Lora E. Fleming, Michael H. Depledge, Timothy Bouley, Easkey Britton, Sam Dupont, Claire Eatock, Ruth Garside, Johanna J. Heymans, Paula Kellett, Josep Lloret, Bruce Maycock, Sabine Pahl, C.J.M. Philippart, Bethany R. Roberts, Torsten Thiele, Mathew P. White, Susanne Wuijts
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic reminds us that our health is vulnerable to immediate threats emerging from the ecosystems we inhabit. More insidious global threats include the increasingly overt consequences of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. As the largest connected ecosystem on Earth, the global ocean exerts a greater influence than any other on our climate and weather, affecting global food production and international trade. Much more importantly, human health is intricately linked to “ocean health.”