Earth Day 2010: 9 Reasons Why Blue Is The New Green (PHOTOS)

Earth is often seen as synonymous with land, but our planet is overwhelming dominated by water. Which is why this Earth Day, we're going blue. Taking care of our oceans and other sources of water is critical to sustaining our planet, but the attention they get often doesn't reflect that. While 71 percent of the Earth's surface is covered by water, 95 percent of the oceans have not even been explored. We're taking a look at nine reasons why water and the life within it is vital to life on Earth, and how celebrating the earth means celebrating our most precious resource -- water.

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It can be easy to lose sight of the fact that Earth is a planet dominated by water. But water trumps land in a heartbeat when you look at the numbers: 71 percent of Earth's surface is covered with water and an estimated 50-80 percent of all life on earth is under the ocean surface. 78% of global precipitation occurs over the ocean, and it is the source of 86% of global evaporation, which is crucial to the circulation of heat in the climate system.

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It can be easy to lose sight of the fact that Earth is a planet dominated by water. But water trumps land in a heartbeat when you look at the numbers: 71 percent of Earth's surface is covered with water and an estimated 50-80 percent of all life on earth is under the ocean surface. 78% of global precipitation occurs over the ocean, and it is the source of 86% of global evaporation, which is crucial to the circulation of heat in the climate system.

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bingotownboy said on 22 Thursday 2010 pm30 12:49 pm: Don't remember the Polish disaster. That is why the P & VP never ever travel together. Common sense really.

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Comments

[tida hirohito]

03:35 PM on 04/24/2010

A viewpoint of Captein Lord David de Rothschild.It is synonymous with following a command to follow environment of the water.

[LetsGoSteve]

02:25 AM on 04/23/2010

I am thankful that climate change is turning out to be pretend, like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. The latest Gallup polls shows that the American people are starting come to the same conclusion. It may take longer for those whose GPA was at stake if they didn't go along with the indoctrinations of their teachers.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/127487/Environmental-Movement-Endures-Less-

[MAJK]

04:53 AM on 04/25/2010

Actually, the consensus is getting stronger...

[cpad]

12:33 AM on 04/23/2010

I think we should just abolish the environment because it's SO big and SO hard to keep clean.

[GoodandBadnews]

09:35 PM on 04/22/2010

Love Dart Shooting Slug Discovered In Borneo
http://www.goodandbadnews.com/love-dart-shooting-slug-discovered-in-borneo/

[ArchieBunkerNYC]

08:50 PM on 04/22/2010

I would just like to say on Earth Day 2010 that I'm very grateful that all the Dooms Day Malthusian socially motivated cognitive predictions in the 70s about our earth in the future never materialized.

[LeFlaneur]

09:05 PM on 04/22/2010

Now that we've crossed the finish line, we can all breathe a sigh of relief.

[LetsGoSteve]

08:40 AM on 04/23/2010

We need to stay patient with those who are under thirty. It will take some time for them to realize that the educrats had been lying to them for all these years. I remember being taught that it would take hundreds if not thousands of years for Lake Erie to recover. I remember being taught we would run out of oil by 2,000. I remember thinking what does that matter we will have destroyed ourselves with nukes by then, after learning how to hide from them under my desk in early grade school.

[Agentlady007]

07:33 PM on 04/22/2010

Well, it is a mystery how we have not yet discovered our earth in the blue as much as the green. It might be worth looking into. Of course if we empty one sea, we might flood another, so we should be careful.

Happy Earth Day.
I join Al gore and ask all of you to join together to take action to address climate change. Call your Senator at the number below and tell him or her to support comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation.

Just call our toll-free Repower America hotline at 1-877-55-REPOWER (1-877-557-3769), and enter your zip code. You'll be connected to one of your Senators. When you've finished your call, click here to report it:

http://cpaf.repoweramerica.org/page/s/earthdayrevcall?utm_source=crm_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20100422agearthdaycall2&utm_content=link1

[wdw505]

07:46 PM on 04/22/2010

no thanks

[Agentlady007]

08:02 PM on 04/22/2010

Hey, no bark off my tree. Go back to your bonfire and enjoy your s'mores and hotdogs.
Keep your doom and gloom to yourself please.

[LetsGoSteve]

08:10 AM on 04/23/2010

Another one who got straight A's by sucking everything up that the educrats dished out.

[Vikingdave]

05:52 PM on 04/22/2010

To my Huffpost buds. This is for earth day,2010.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6O9pqbzKQU

[LetsGoSteve]

08:27 AM on 04/23/2010

When will the propaganda end? Probably another one the educrats will force our children to watch, Woe unto the child that does not provide the interpretation the educrats are looking for. They will be met with scorn and ridicule and a lesser grade, they will learn that they just need to give the educrats what they want to maintain their GPA.

[soneboy]

04:36 PM on 04/22/2010

Why do U feel U need 2 cut me down? How ya gonna breath when I'm not around? U know I WOOD go out on a LIMB 4 U. Now I'm gonna LEAVE, count the RINGS I grew. Why do U feel U need 2 cut me down? How ya gonna breath when I'm not around? U think you're gonna use me 2 climb 2 the top. Ha ha, you're dead wrong, Timber we drop. Happy Earth Day from the trees :) U can find me on myspace "soneboymusic" peace & love 0:) son.e.boy

[Richard2]

04:31 PM on 04/22/2010

Perhaps oolar white should be the new green. The Arctic Sea Ice extent is the largest this Earth Day that it has been in the last nine years. The Arctic Sea Ice has recovered nicely since September 2007. It is now very very close to the average sea level for this date for the period 1979-2000. The sea ice extent is back to what can be considered normal for the last few decades.

[gbloodgood]

04:34 PM on 04/22/2010

Therefore let's not do anything about pollution
blah blah blah

[MAJK]

04:40 PM on 04/22/2010

Wrong - Read scientists research not weatherman watts.

[Tazirai]

08:34 PM on 04/22/2010

Exactly.. people forget that weather and climate are two different animals of the same genus.

[banned again]

04:07 PM on 04/22/2010

Ahh its time to celebrate Lenin's bday again. Will all the progresives visit Lenin's grave also?

[LeFlaneur]

09:17 PM on 04/22/2010

Curses! Now our plan to turn America commie is foiled! We thought we could rally everyone around a concern for the Earth and then trick them into turning commie.

We thought, "Only an idiot wouldn't care about his own planet." But we grossly underestimated the number of idiots.

Fine! You have won this round, but we'll be back. And next time we'll celebrate Lenin's birthday with something you can't resist -- like monster trucks, or an all-you-can-eat buffet. Then victory will be ours!

[ArchieBunkerNYC]

03:53 PM on 04/22/2010

Hello fellow Huffers,

I've almost made it thru the day without passing any gas as my contribution to Earth Day. Hopefully Edith is cooking up something for dinner that agrees with me.

[AnthropologistAmongApes]

04:52 PM on 04/22/2010

But your comment is gas proceeding from a gaseous cranial volume, so I guess you can't help even if you desperately wanted to! You should be as proud as you are, its all you got!

[AnthropologistAmongApes]

07:39 PM on 04/22/2010

.........Or you are going to be a great addition to the brilliant satirists here. Guess we'll know on the next post eh?

[SenJam]

03:40 PM on 04/22/2010

Maybe we should leave that other 95% of the oceans unexplored.

Unchecked space exploration has littered Earth orbit with thousands of fragmented garbage from rockets and old satellites. That stuff up there is now posing a hazard to other spacecraft and humans in orbit.

Unchecked exploration of the oceans will result in the same sort of pollution and probable disturbance of a delicate ecosystem that has happened wherever else humans have decided to explore.

[gbloodgood]

03:36 PM on 04/22/2010

Who are the true "Conservatives"?

Not the conservatives

[TOPCAT711]

03:34 PM on 04/22/2010

HAPPY EARTH DAY !

As we celebrate, let us mourn the loss of the workers on the off-shore oil rig that blew up off the coast of Louisiana. Our hearts go out to the families.
Now the rig has sunk, and oil is pumping into the Gulf of Mexico......coming soon to a shoreline near you.

DRILL, BABY, DRILL !

[jmoneymiff]

04:20 PM on 04/22/2010

Sarcasm ftw

[CampCalifornia]

06:45 PM on 04/22/2010

and oil is pumping into the Gulf of Mexico?

Got any proof or just fear mongoring?

[K-Hoff45]

07:17 PM on 04/22/2010

read the news. it's there

[fds]

03:27 PM on 04/22/2010

"Taking care of our oceans and other sources of water is critical to sustaining our planet"

This is a little misleading. The planet will sustain itself for many more millions of years (possibly billions depending on the chance of meteor strikes), far beyond the lives of possibly all animals.

The hydrosphere will remain intact, as well (again barring a collision with a meteor). What evaporates in the ocean must fall somewhere. It is perpetual and effectively infinite for human concerns.

The idea you probably want to convey is that it's important for Earth to remain habitable by humans, not that Earth is in danger itself.

[jmoneymiff]

04:24 PM on 04/22/2010

And remain habitable by many, many other species.

[OneEarthling]

09:36 PM on 04/22/2010

Species wipe each other out. Humans have been particularly adept at it.

The Earth will abide.

It would be nice if humans handled themselves in a more sustainable way, but alas, they don't... and likely won't until they are reduced to a harmless number.