|
World leaders gathered for Cop26 must ban industrial fishing on the high seas to have a chance of preserving the ocean, the Earth’s “largest carbon-capturing and oxygen-generating system”, the deep-sea explorer and oceanographer Sylvia Earle has said.
Earle, 86, has clocked up more than 7,000 hours underwater and holds several records, including in 1979 for the deepest untethered dive by a woman. |
|
|
She was at Cop26 in Glasgow this week, taking part in events with Al Gore, John Kerry and Zac Goldsmith, as well as young climate activists at the Ocean Action Hub.
Stopping industrial fishing in international waters, Earle said, was as important as curbing fossil fuel use.
“It’s the No 1 priority, because we have the chance, in a stroke, to safeguard the blue heart of the planet,” she said. “It’s where most of the oxygen that comes from the ocean is generated. It’s where most of the carbon is taken up.” |
|