We have an atmosphere that is roughly 21% oxygen. The rest of it is largely nitrogen. There's just enough carbon dioxide (CO2) to drive photosynthesis. That has been, throughout the history of our species, pretty stable. Until recently.

Knowledge is the key to making a difference.

Since the middle of the 20th century, more has been learnt about the ocean than during all preceding human history; at the same time, more has been lost.

It has taken these many hundreds of millions of years to fine-tune the Earth to a point where it is suitable for the likes of us.

What we once used as weapons of war, we now use as weapons against fish.

Earth as an ecosystem stands out in the all of the universe. There's no place that we know about that can support life as we know it, not even our sister planet, Mars, where we might set up housekeeping someday, but at great effort and trouble we have to recreate the things we take for granted here.

There is an enormous amount to be learned about the sea; like most wildernesses, it has great potential.