World Oceans Day
By Dr Arvind Kumar
8th June is observed as World Oceans Day (WOD) every year, since the delegates at Rio Earth Summit in 1992 decided to mark June 8 every year as World Oceans Day (WOD).
The Ocean Project, working with the World Ocean Network, is trying to create greater awareness of the significance of the ocean in our lives and the varied ways in which people can effectively engage themselves in the preservation of Neptune’s riches. The survival of our species depends on our living in peace and harmony, especially in the bio-system that sustains us. On this auspicious day, people all over the world, dressed in blue to honour the ocean, will take a pledge:
Ø Never to distress the sea by taking away its beaches and in turn making ourselves vulnerable to the effects of beach erosion;
Ø That any development on the coast is done only after scientific studies determine that the step is not destructive;
Ø That we cannot poison our own food by indiscriminately putting untreated sewage and harmful effluents into the sea;
Ø That we understand that anything we do to harm the sea harms us in turn and anything we do to protect oceans helps us stay healthy and safe.
A globalised world with urgent and serious problems involving massive swathes of humankind needs to explore all avenues to stem the rot it has created. Similar attention needs to be focused in India as well.
