Why should we preserve lakes

How do oceans affect you? If you live far from the coast, you might think they don’t. But life on this planet depends on the ocean. Its cover almost three-quarters of the planet and hold 97 percent of Earth’s water. The phytoplankton that live on the oceans’ surface produce half of the oxygen in the atmosphere. Oceans are a vital source of food and other resources and an economic engine for many communities. For all the ocean provides us, we haven’t always been so responsible in our stewardship. “The ocean was thought of as a dumping ground for so long,” says Caitlyn Toropova of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). “There was a sense that there was no way we could harm it because it is so vast.” But human activities are having a negative impact on many of the world’s oceans, jeopardizing marine life, habitats, and ecosystems. These threats include overfishing or destructive fishing, coastal development, pollution and runoff, and the introduction of non-native species. Climate change is also having a big effect by causing warming seas and ocean acidification. The realization that something needs to be done to stem or reverse the damage has led to the creation of marine protected areas (MPAs). Broadly speaking, a marine protected area (MPA) is a region of the ocean where human activity is limited. Specifics differ around the globe, but the United States defines a marine protected area as “any area of the marine environment that has been reserved by fede...

" " The North American Great Lakes: Lake Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario as seen from satellite. Together they hold almost 20 percent of the world's fresh surface water. Planet Observer/Universal Images Group/Getty Images There's no place like H.O.M.E.S. If you don't get the reference, that's the Technically the Great Lakes hold one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water. That's a lot of water, especially when, Exactly how much water are we talking about here? Put together, the five Great Lakes have 6 quadrillion gallons of it. For metric system fans, that's 22.7 quadrillion liters. With this amount of H2O, an aspiring supervillain could cover the contiguous United States in 10 feet (3 meters) of standing water. Just about every type of boat or ship you can imagine — from wooden canoes to Quantity is nice, but so is quality. Many of these vessels are almost perfectly preserved. The Great Lakes contain cold, fresh water. That allows shipwrecks to last longer than they would in the ocean. In saltwater, iron-based metal

Our planet faces the interconnected crises of rapid climate change and biodiversity loss. We have years, not decades, to address these existential threats. In published research from The Nature Conservancy and 12 peer organizations, science points us to a better path for building a more sustainable, more hopeful future for the Earth. A future in which catastrophic climate change is kept at bay while we still power our developing world. A future in which we can feed 10 billion people worldwide and provide cleaner, more abundant drinking water while also protecting life-giving lands, lakes and rivers. A future in which nature’s wild heart still beats strong through healthy wildlife and magnificent landscapes while our cities are strengthened by harmony with nature. A Path Forward New science shows a clear path we must take to prevent irreversible damage to the lands and waters that sustain us all. It’s not too late to choose a more sustainable future where nature and people thrive together. To reach it, we must transform the way we get our food, fish and energy right now. © Matt Champlin A future in which people and nature thrive together. What we do between now and 2030 will determine whether we slow warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius—the level scientists agree will avoid the worst impacts of climate change—while also conserving enough land and water to slow accelerated species loss. This vision of the future is achievable, and we must join together and put all our effort to ma...

How do oceans affect you? If you live far from the coast, you might think they don’t. But life on this planet depends on the ocean. Its cover almost three-quarters of the planet and hold 97 percent of Earth’s water. The phytoplankton that live on the oceans’ surface produce half of the oxygen in the atmosphere. Oceans are a vital source of food and other resources and an economic engine for many communities. For all the ocean provides us, we haven’t always been so responsible in our stewardship. “The ocean was thought of as a dumping ground for so long,” says Caitlyn Toropova of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). “There was a sense that there was no way we could harm it because it is so vast.” But human activities are having a negative impact on many of the world’s oceans, jeopardizing marine life, habitats, and ecosystems. These threats include overfishing or destructive fishing, coastal development, pollution and runoff, and the introduction of non-native species. Climate change is also having a big effect by causing warming seas and ocean acidification. The realization that something needs to be done to stem or reverse the damage has led to the creation of marine protected areas (MPAs). Broadly speaking, a marine protected area (MPA) is a region of the ocean where human activity is limited. Specifics differ around the globe, but the United States defines a marine protected area as “any area of the marine environment that has been reserved by fede...

Our planet faces the interconnected crises of rapid climate change and biodiversity loss. We have years, not decades, to address these existential threats. In published research from The Nature Conservancy and 12 peer organizations, science points us to a better path for building a more sustainable, more hopeful future for the Earth. A future in which catastrophic climate change is kept at bay while we still power our developing world. A future in which we can feed 10 billion people worldwide and provide cleaner, more abundant drinking water while also protecting life-giving lands, lakes and rivers. A future in which nature’s wild heart still beats strong through healthy wildlife and magnificent landscapes while our cities are strengthened by harmony with nature. A Path Forward New science shows a clear path we must take to prevent irreversible damage to the lands and waters that sustain us all. It’s not too late to choose a more sustainable future where nature and people thrive together. To reach it, we must transform the way we get our food, fish and energy right now. © Matt Champlin A future in which people and nature thrive together. What we do between now and 2030 will determine whether we slow warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius—the level scientists agree will avoid the worst impacts of climate change—while also conserving enough land and water to slow accelerated species loss. This vision of the future is achievable, and we must join together and put all our effort to ma...

" " The North American Great Lakes: Lake Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario as seen from satellite. Together they hold almost 20 percent of the world's fresh surface water. Planet Observer/Universal Images Group/Getty Images There's no place like H.O.M.E.S. If you don't get the reference, that's the Technically the Great Lakes hold one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water. That's a lot of water, especially when, Exactly how much water are we talking about here? Put together, the five Great Lakes have 6 quadrillion gallons of it. For metric system fans, that's 22.7 quadrillion liters. With this amount of H2O, an aspiring supervillain could cover the contiguous United States in 10 feet (3 meters) of standing water. Just about every type of boat or ship you can imagine — from wooden canoes to Quantity is nice, but so is quality. Many of these vessels are almost perfectly preserved. The Great Lakes contain cold, fresh water. That allows shipwrecks to last longer than they would in the ocean. In saltwater, iron-based metal