Overview

A Sea of Opportunities | What's in this Module? | Register in the Program

Nowhere Near an Ocean?

Your school may be thousands of kilometres away from the nearest coast. But the health of our oceans matters to all of us. And what each of us does affects their health.

Prairie, big city, mountain, and coastal inhabitants alike, we all have a stake in conserving the life-sustaining force of oceans. They feed us, satisfy our thirst, give us air to breathe, cure us of disease, control the world's climate, and inspire us with their beauty and mystery.

Our profound connection to the world's oceans results, in part, from the endless flow of water seaward through systems of rivers, lakes, and wetlands, called drainage basins. Much of the air we breathe and water we drink, in turn, come to us on atmospheric currents from oxygen produced by ocean plants and moisture evaporated from the sea.

Unfortunately, oceans are often a "blind spot" in our awareness of the planet that gives us life. Pesticides sprayed on crops and leached into streams, raw sewage dumped into rivers and lakes, contaminants and greenhouse gases spewed from factories and automobiles — they all work their way out to sea through those same drainage basins and atmospheric currents.

That's why this educational kit is as much for inlanders as for shore dwellers. By learning how all of us are connected with oceans, we are better able to protect them — and ourselves. After all, healthy oceans are good news for everyone.