Throughout history, we have relied on our oceans for food, jobs, recreation, and even the air we breathe. But this relationship has been one-sided for centuries, as we have taken resources from our oceans with no regard for their natural limits.
What is blue tech?
Blue Tech is the collective name of the new, innovative technologies aimed at improving our relationship with our oceans. It helps change this one-sided relationship so that we still benefit from our oceans while also playing an active role in their well-being.
Why is blue tech important?
We must care because, as marine biologist Sylvia Earle said, "Everyone, everywhere is inextricably connected to and utterly dependent upon the existence of the sea."
Our oceans play a role in our paychecks. Over 90% of trade leverages sea routes, and the marine economy provides millions of jobs around the world.
Oceans influence our diets. Three billion people worldwide rely on our oceans as a significant source of protein.
And oceans also regulate our climate. Over the past 100 years, the average temperature of our oceans has risen by 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
This may sound insignificant, but think of how you feel when you are running a fever over 100 degrees.
Like our bodies, our oceans don't function well when they heat up. Those rising temps cause marine life die-offs, intensify weather events, and create floods as sea levels rise.
Most people like to visit the ocean, but they do not like the ocean to visit them.
Why is blue tech awesome?
It's easy to get lost in a climate doomscroll these days, but the reality is that blue tech provides several elegant, simple solutions that enable us to benefit from our oceans' resources while still allowing them to flourish.
Such as the organizations that are 3D-printing reefs to promote biodiversity and protect our coastlines. Or the solar-powered, autonomous boats cleaning up ocean plastic. Or the techniques that capture energy from tidal power.
Our oceans have sustained us throughout human history, and if we let it, Blue Tech will help both us and our oceans to flourish in the future.
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