Life below water

More than 3 billion people rely on the ocean for their livelihoods, and over 80 per cent of world merchandise trade is carried out by sea. Oceans contribute to poverty eradication, sustained economic growth and food security. However, the benefits they provide are increasingly undermined by human activities. Rising CO2 emissions are driving ocean warming, acidification and deoxygenation, which threaten marine ecosystems and the people who depend on them, and are overwhelming the capacity of oceans to moderate climate change.