When I First Ventured Into The Gulf

Throughout All Of Human History We Have Consumed The Natural World. All Creatures Do. Birds Do. Fish Do. Earthworms Do. We Consume The Natural World As A Source Of Our Survival. But No Creature Has Ever Consumed At The Scale That Humans Have, And Now There Are Seven Billion Of Us. I Think The Good News Is That A Large Percentage Of Those Seven Billion Minds Can Work To Make Better Decisions.

The Sudden Release Of Five Million Barrels Of Oil, Enormous Quantities Of Methane And Two Million Gallons Of Toxic Dispersants Into An Already Greatly Stressed Gulf Of Mexico Will Permanently Alter The Nature Of The Area.

By The End Of The 20th Century, Up To 90 Percent Of The Sharks, Tuna, Swordfish, Marlins, Groupers, Turtles, Whales, And Many Other Large Creatures That Prospered In The Gulf For Millions Of Years Had Been Depleted By Overfishing.

The Image Of Earth From Space Transformed Our View Of Ourselves. It Is Maybe The Most Important Image That Exists - Because We Can See Ourselves In Context In A Way That Otherwise Would Be Really Hard To Explain. It Should Inspire Us To Wonder About It, To Want To Know Everything We Can About It And Do Everything We Can To Take Care Of It.

If You Think The Ocean Isn't Important, Imagine Earth Without It. Mars Comes To Mind. No Ocean, No Life Support System.