10 Reasons I'm Marching For The Ocean At #PeoplesClimate

This Sunday, over 100,000 people will converge on New York City to march for climate action. People have heard all about warming atmospheric temperatures and more extreme weather, but we’re marching with a different focus: our oceans.

Via Twitter: @upwell

If you're marching, we hope you'll march for the ocean and those who depend on it. Here's why:

1. For the love of oysters.

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We’re changing the chemistry of the oceans by belching carbon into the atmosphere. Two-thirds of all CO2 is absorbed by the oceans, and this causes the oceans to become more acidic.

Ocean acidification makes it harder for shellfish to grow shells. Oyster farmers on the east and west coasts are already reporting lost harvests. A more acidic ocean means fewer oysters (and other shellfish) for dinner.

2. The oceans have been protecting us from global warming, but they can only protect us for so long.

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The atmosphere is warming, as we all know. The ocean is getting hotter too, absorbing heat so we get less sweaty. The oceans are now warming 15 times faster than they used to, creating freak weather events and allowing invasive species to take hold.

3. Rising sea levels are a threat to our cities and our homes.

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The International Panel on Climate Changes predicts 1.4 meters of sea level rise by 2100 (that’s almost 1 metric Lady Gaga of sea level rise). Cities like New York, Miami, and Virginia Beach are already facing increased coastal flooding.

4. Superstorm Sandy was a wake up call.

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Climate change plus sea level rise will increase the frequency and intensity of major storms, and drive coastal flooding further inland. This is traumatic for coastal communities, and incredibly costly to recover from.

5. I want to keep watching Shark Week.

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Ocean acidification is climate change’s equally evil twin. Increased acidity makes it more difficult for sharks to hunt prey and fish to find friends. If sharks can’t eat, then no more Shark Week.

6. The deeper you drill, the bigger the spill.

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As oil land-based and coastal oil reserves are depleted, we’re forced to move farther and farther offshore, increasing the chance of a catastrophic oil spill like the Deepwater Horizon, which is still exacting its toll on marine wildlife in the Gulf.

7. Three billion people depend on the oceans for their food.

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8. The people losing their seafood aren’t the ones causing the problem.

Over a billion of the poorest people in the world depend on seafood for their primary source of protein. When we ignore the impacts of fossil fuel production, we're exporting our responsibility to developing nations.

9. Hawaiian vacations are way cooler with healthy coral reefs.

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Divers float above a coral reef damaged by ocean acidification in Oahu. Their sign refers to 350 ppm, the safe level of C02 in our atmosphere (we’ve already exceeded 400 ppm...)

And what’s good for reefs is good for people.

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10. This Sunday, there’s only one cure for FOMO

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Experience the joy of being in - in movement, with a movement. You can join the People’s Climate March here in New York, or at a local event near you. There’ll be more than 300 college campuses represented, 28 different religious faiths, 20 marching bands, and 1,500 actions planned worldwide. You can even walk the walk right now. This won’t be the end of the climate action we need but it’s a beautiful way to start, together.

See you in the streets!