Estate Living Magazine #liveyourbestlife - Issue 46 December 2019 | Page 40

C O M M U N I T Y
L I V I N G
OCEANS OF
CHANGE
Summer is around the corner, and you’re probably thinking about heading to your favourite coastal
holiday spot. It’s a great opportunity to gaze out to sea and contemplate – nothing! But, perhaps it’s
also a good time to think about the sea. We can’t imagine a world without it, and it is so big, we can’t
imagine it ever changing, or being vulnerable. But it is. And it is time to think about it.
Philippines
Floating in the lifeless infinity of outer space is one single planet that’s blue in
colour. That tiny planet is called Earth – but we call it home. Think of it in the same
way you think of your house or apartment, the estate on which you live, and the
city and country in which they are situated. Because, like those little comfort zones,
Earth is finite and precious. And vulnerable.
The earth is blue because it consists mostly of water, and it is the only place in the
known universe where water exists in solid, liquid and vapour forms. And it is this
water that makes life as we know it possible. We humans and many other life forms,
including plants, are totally dependent on fresh water for our survival, but less than
2% of all water on Earth is fresh – and most of it is tied up in permanent ice at the
polar regions and on high mountains.
Size does count, but …
You have often heard it said that the extensive terrestrial forests are the lungs of the
Earth, which is true. In a sense. Forests are important, as are the giant trees within
them, but they pale into insignificance in comparison with the sea for oxygen
2019 Amazon fires from view from space