Economic use of the oceans Week 5

  Economic use of the oceans Ecological importance of the oceans. The fact

that 71% of the earth’s surface is ocean determines a signicant part of its

climate and ecology. The hydrologic cycle is dependent on the vast amounts

of water evaporated by solar energy from the oceans and deposited as rain

on the land. Without this vast reservoir of open water, the earth would

quickly become a desert. The oceans also provide a sink for nutrients eroded

from the land. The seas regulate the global climate by serving as an

enormous thermal mass for heat storage and as a reservoir for CO2.

  From a purely physical point of view, the presence of the oceans can be

seen as essential for a climate on earth suitable for human life. We have 5

oceans in the world, with two bottom layers which are abyss and trench and

Continental Shelf being the top layer of the ocean. The services of ecological

systems and the natural capital stocks that produce them are critical to the

functioning of the earth’s life support system, as described above. They

contribute signicantly to human welfare, both directly and indirectly, and

therefore represent a signicant portion of the total economic value of the

planet.

  Leviticus 23:22 “And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall

not reap your eld right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings

after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I

am the LORD your God.”

Work Cited

Foundations of Earth Science, 14th Edition (Boston, Pearson, 2016),

Lutgens, F.K., Tarbuck, E.J., Tasa, D

Poland State University. Retrieved February 08, 2017, from

https://www.pdx.edu/sites/www.pdx.edu.sustainability/les/Costanza

%20Oceans%201999.pdf

Open Bible. Retrieved February 08, 2017, from

https://www.openbible.info/topics/economics