Our ocean is in crisis!

The weather is getting warmer and the beach is calling. You pack your towels, snacks, and sunscreen. Chatter about boogie boarding and sandcastle building fills the air. But you arrive at the beach only to find your favorite spot speckled with plastic containers, newspapers, and food wrappers. What's going on? Our ocean provides us with oxygen to breathe, drives our climate and weather, brings rain to the farmlands, and food to our table. Our seas offer us recreation, transportation, protein, medicine, energy, and unrelenting beauty. But experts agree, our ocean is in crisis. Luckily, it isn’t too late to make a difference.

Oceans help combat climate change by absorbing over 90% of the heat and 30% of the CO2 produced by pollution, according to the Ocean Conservancy. Yet the ocean can absorb less and less of these harmful greenhouse gasses as it heats up—meaning climate change is becoming a real problem. If we don’t take action now to help protect our oceans, the damage to one of our world’s most diverse and mysterious ecosystems and fish populations could become permanent.

The ocean has become increasingly polluted in recent years due to the effects of human activity. It is not only solid waste and plastics that are a concern, but also harmful chemicals and greenhouse gasses as well.

If you're wondering how much plastic is in the ocean? Over 150 million metric tons of plastic products are in our waters, with an additional eight million metric tons added each year—the equivalent of a garbage truck full of plastic and waste every minute.

Plastics pollute our oceans, beach and harm fish life, killing over 100,000 sea turtles and ocean mammals each year, in addition to over one million birds and fish.

Global sea levels have risen nearly 10 inches since 1900, with two of those inches happening in the past ten years. This is after more than 2,000 years of little to no change in sea level.

Helping climate change will help our oceans, too. Harmful algal blooms are the result of rising ocean temperature and CO2 carbon footprint concentration, causing dead zones in the aquatic fish ecosystem, and severe illness in the life of humans.

Ocean acidification, a result of excess CO2, threatens the entire marine food chain: plankton, shellfish, and coral reefs are unable to live in water that is too acidic.

The most important step is simple recycling. Have you heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? That is a name coined to describe the vast amounts of plastic bits and other marine debris floating in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, one of five major ocean gyres in the world. Sadly, all the gyres seem to have their garbage patch.

Plastic stays around for hundreds of years can be a hazard to wildlife and leaches toxins into the environment. Stop using so much plastic. Buy things with less packaging, don't use disposable items and use reusable bags instead of plastic ones wherever possible.

Global warming has been a hot topic in the ocean world, and it is because of ocean acidification, known as 'the other global warming problem.' As the acidity of the oceans increases, it will have devastating impacts on marine life, including plankton, corals and shellfish, and the animals that eat them. But you can do something about this problem right now. Reduce global warming by taking simple steps that will likely save money in the long run: drive less, walk more, use less electricity and water—you know the drill. Lessening your "​carbon footprint" will help marine life miles from your home. The idea of an acidic ocean is scary, but we can bring the oceans to a more healthy state with some easy changes in our behavior.

Along with the tip above, reduce your energy consumption and carbon output wherever possible. This includes simple things like turning off the lights or TV when you're not in a room and driving in a way that increases your fuel efficiency.

Balloons may look pretty when you release them, but they are a danger to wildlife such as sea turtles, who can swallow them accidentally, mistake them for food, or get tangled up in their strings. After your party, pop the balloons and throw them in the trash instead of releasing them.

One of the planet’s most amazing resources is in jeopardy, and we must take action right now to protect our fish, ocean mammals and reduce further damage. Continuing efforts to reduce our impact on this precious marine ecosystem is the responsibility of us all, and there are many ways you can help.