Society

The Living Coast and Ocean


The sea is very important to human beings. It is where living things were born, and keeps the ecosystem in balance. On the other hand, human beings have been throwing away the dregs of human endeavor in the sea. Even though the sea has self-cleaning properties, because of the rapid increase of sewage caused by technology and industrial development, the self-cleaning property will reach a limit and the marine ecosystem is being destroyed. I will talk about what the marine pollution we are facing now and what the world has done and the Korea does to deal with it.

The dregs of human endeavors are domestic sewage, sewage from farming, industrial waste water, and oil. Because of sewage, a red tide is found along the east coast. Also 5 years ago, there was the Taean oil spill. The damage of the oil spill was huge. It caused lots of economic and environmental problems for a long time. It usually takes 20~30 years to normalize the regional environment. It was estimated that it will take 100 years to restore the marine environment.

Marine pollution is still happening in the world and oil spills will happen around the world. However, the world has been trying to solve the problems about not only the marine environment but also the whole environment. Many countries made agreements, and Earth Day held events about saving the earth. Korea made the agreements and held summits and forums about the environment. This year, the Yeosu International Exposition will be held in Korea. Since Korea is a peninsula mostly surrounded by water, Korea has lots of not only fishery resources but also marine resources.

The 2012 Yeosu International Exposition will be held from May 12 to August 12 with the theme of The Living Coast and Ocean. By making countries cooperative through the exposition, the world can deal with climate change and the ocean can be healthy, which keeps the people's health. Also, governments are aiming to green growth by fostering marine industries. 105 countries will participate in the exposition, which will be a chance for the world to gather, consider the problems, and seek solutions.

Vicente Gonzales Loscertales, the secretary general of Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), expects that the Yeosu Expo will be a good place for discussion of the theme. He said that because of the tsunami in Japan, the Yeosu Expo would focus countries' attention on marine issues.

The Yeosu Expo will show new visions of the ocean and the environment through discussions about protecting the environment and pollution problems. I hope the Yeosu Expo will improve the Korean national brand and have academic, cultural, and financial effects all around the world.