Climate Change and Harmony

The previous chapter discussed the unprecedented rise in population growth over the past century. This chapter addresses anthropogenic climate change due to increased GHG emissions caused by burning fossil fuels—among the drawbacks of industrialization. How carbon dioxide, one of the GHGs, could influence air temperature was already understood in the late nineteenth century. It was not until the late 1980s and the first assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published in 1990, that concern about global warming spread to a larger group of people. The ocean is under pressure from many stressors, and restoring healthy marine environments is needed to meet these threats. The image of a healthy ocean suggests a likeness between the ocean and humans, for whom health can be physical and mental. The ocean challenges us to build such health and feel the ocean's joy, which can create greater harmony between humans and the ocean.