Ocean and Coastal Health

One World, One Health

Human well-being is closely tied to ocean health because marine life creates most of the oxygen found in Earth's atmosphere, produces high-protein food, provides medicine, and protects coastal communities from damaging storms and extreme weather. People flock to healthy oceans for recreation and relaxation, and they rely on oceans to moderate global weather conditions. However, many factors today –such as overfishing, pollution, development, and climate change –threaten the health and future of our oceans. Ocean and coastal parks are ideal sites for learning about these threats and thus how to address them and improve ocean and human well-being.