The Lowy Institute

Governing climate and weather, shaping planetary chemistry, generating most of the atmospheric oxygen, the ocean is vital to all life. In the past 50 years, more has been learned about the ocean than during all preceding history, but at the same time, more has been lost. Sharp declines in commercially-exploited fish and other marine life and increasing pollution mean trouble for the ocean - and for us. At the Wednesday Lunch at Lowy on 5 August, internationally renowned environmentalist Sylvia Earle explained in her presentation, 'Thinking Blue', why 'hope spots' - fully protected areas in the sea - are critically important to our collective future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.