PACIFIC OCEAN
The world's largest geographic feature, the Pacific Ocean covers more than 166 million square kilometers (more than 64 million square miles)—about one-third of the earth's surface. The area of the Pacific is greater than that of all of the continents combined, and it makes up nearly half of the area covered by the earth's oceans.
Some of the current issues include - endangered marine species include the dugong, sea lion, sea otter, seals, turtles, and whales; oil pollution in Philippine Sea and South China Sea.
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth’s Oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, “sea”, bestowed upon it by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east. At 169.2 million square kilometres (65.3 million square miles) in area, this larges division of the World Ocean – and, in turn, the hydrosphere – covers about 46% of the Earth’s water surface and about 32% of its total surface area, making it larger than all of the Earth’s land area combined. The equator subdivides it into the North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean. The Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the Pacific and in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres (35.798 ft).
Scientists set 2020 goal for improving Pacific Ocean’s health:
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. -- The world faces well-known milestones for reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the coming decades to reduce the dangers of climate change. Now an international consortium is doing the same to demand action against threats to the Pacific Ocean that they say endangers environmental and human well-being in countries rich and poor.
The Center for Ocean Solutions and Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station released a scientific consensus in May that spells out the grim consequences of inaction in reversing the threats of overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction, while providing a road map to recovery.
The report calls for measurable improvements to the Pacific Ocean's health by 2020, and it full fills a key objective set by the International Union for Conservation of Nature's "Pacific Ocean 2020 Challenge." The United Nation's-affiliated group, founded in 1948 and representing 1,000 organizations worldwide, set as its first priority the release of a scientific consensus on threats to the ocean, which covers one-third of the Earth's surface.
"This is the first time where there have been scientists and experts around the world saying, 'These are threats, these are the solutions. Let's take some action,' " said Tegan Hoffmann, an Oakland, Calif.-based consultant. She worked with Center for Ocean Solutions in corralling the 400 signatures from scientists and experts on the consensus, called the "Pacific Ocean Synthesis."
Neil Davies, director of University of California-Berkeley's South Pacific Research Station in French Polynesia, was one of the signers of the report. In an e-mail from the university's distant outpost, he described the approach of the synthesis.
"It took a holistic approach to understanding the ecological health of the Pacific, with the promotion of human well-being at its heart," Davies said.
"A non-obvious finding was that many of the same challenges are felt across this vast and diverse region," he added. "The recommendations in the synthesis recognize that societies across the Pacific can learn from one another's successes and failures."
Throughout the Pacific, from the Southeast Pacific to the Pacific Northwest, pollution from sewage, plastic marine debris, toxic waste, oil spills and agricultural and urban runoff top the list of threats. Destroying productive marine and coastal habitats for development or through poor agricultural practices was next on the list, followed by commercial and recreational overfishing.
If left unchecked, this human-caused damage is sure to weaken coastal economies, reduce food supplies while populations expand, compromise public health and increase political instability, the report noted. It would also reduce marine biodiversity and damage natural ecosystems.
But the report paired details on what ails the Pacific with remedies governments across the ocean region can adopt. That's the chief goal of the synthesis: to provide a scientifically grounded analysis - which experts worldwide support - for developing constructive policies for protecting the ocean's health.
"The consensus statement is really giving voice to the scientific community," said Meg Caldwell, interim director of the Center for Ocean Solutions in Monterey, Calif. "That there are scientific underpinnings to support strong policies."
She added: "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out how to address those threats."
HISTORY AND ECONOMY:
Important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times, most notably those of the Polynesians from the Asian edge of the ocean to Tahiti and then to Hawaii, New Zealand, and Easter Island.
The ocean was first sighted by Europeans early in the 16th century, first by the Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa who crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1513, and then by Ferdinand Magellan, who sailed the Pacific during his circumnavigation from 1519 to 1522. In 1564, conquistadors crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi who sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands. For the remainder of the 16th century, spanish influence was paramount, with ships sailing from spain to the philippines, New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands.
During the 17th century, the Dutch, sailing around southern Africa, dominated discovery and trade; Abel Janszoon Tasman discovered Tasmania and New Zealand in 1642. The 18th century marked a burst of exploration by the Russians in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, the French in Polynesia, and the British in the three voyages of James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest.
Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by European powers, and later, the United States and Japan. Significant contributions to oceanographic knowledge were made by the voyages of HMS Beagle in the 1830s, with Charles Darwin aboard; HMS Challenger during the 1870s; the USS Tuscarora (1873-76); and the German Gazelle (1874-76). Although the United States gained control of the Philippines from Spain in 1898, Japan controlled most of the western Pacific by 1914 and occupied many other islands during World War II. However, by the end of that war, Japan was defeated and the U.S. Pacific Fleet was the virtual master of the ocean. Since the end of World War II, many former colonies in the Pacific have become independent states.
The exploitation of the Pacific's mineral wealth is hampered by the ocean's great depths. In shallow waters of the continental shelves off the coasts of Australia and New Zealand, petroleum and natural gas are extracted, and pearls are harvested along the coasts of Australia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Philippines, although in sharply declining volume in some cases. The Pacific's greatest asset is its fish. The shoreline waters of the continents and the more temperate islands yield herring, salmon, sardines, snapper, swordfish, and tuna, as well as shellfish.
