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Ocean Literacy Principles (OLP)
Ocean Literacy Principles are ideas scientists and educators agree everyone should understand about the ocean.
Table of Contents
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Topic List
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This introduction to the Ocean Literacy Principles (OLP) gives an overview of the components of the OLP explored in this unit.
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The ocean is the defining physical feature on our planet Earth—covering approximately 70 percent of the planet’s surface. Throughout the ocean there is one interconnected circulation system.
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Many earth materials and biogeochemical cycles originate in the ocean. The ocean influences the physical structure and landforms of the coast.
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The interaction of oceanic and atmospheric processes controls Earth’s weather and climate by dominating the Earth’s energy, water, and carbon systems.
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Life started in the ocean. Most of the oxygen in the atmosphere originally came from the activities of photosynthetic organisms in the ocean.
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Ocean life ranges in size from the smallest living things, microbes, to the largest animal on Earth, the blue whale. Most of the organisms and biomass in the ocean are microbes.
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The ocean affects every human life. It supplies freshwater and oxygen, moderates the climate, influences our weather, and affects human health.
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The ocean is the largest unexplored place on Earth—less than 5 percent of it has been explored.
