June 8th, International Ocean’s day. “The four horsemen of the oceanic apocalypse: Overfishing, Pollution, Climate Change and Habitat Destruction.” From a reductionist view point the human destruction of the ocean is a four-pronged attack, consisting of Overfishing, Pollution, Climate Change and Habitat Destruction. However, these “umbrella terms”, are each a depressing rabbit hole of a myriad of smaller and smaller problems, each a beach made up of grains of problems, each an entire library of scientific research. It is overwhelming and depressing, but we have to start somewhere. The system is broken and we cannot go on like this.

There is a lot happening in the world at the moment, and maybe the ocean isn’t at the front of anyone’s mind. But systemic injustice is not only social and economic- it is environmental too. We are already seeing the unequal distribution of the effects of a tormented marine system, and as we venture further down the path of the Anthropocene, we are likely to aggravate these inequalities and create masses of climate and environmental refugees.
Please read up about these issues and start acting- raising awareness, demanding action and change.

This drawing is inspired by Albrecht Duerer’s iconic woodcut called “Revelations: the four horsemen of the apocalypse”.

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