Good morning [%first_name |Dear Reader%],

Half a century ago, American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan wrote what would become the anthem of change for the era. The Times They Are a-Changin’—the title track of the 1964 album of the same name—has been recorded several times since and continues to be one of the most popular songs of all time.

It is an archetypal protest song, reminding the youth to assert themselves and authority figures to keep improving the structures they inherited. Allow me to remind you of the words again: 

Time is the container in which stories live. Sometimes they are told ahead of their time, sometimes they are told too late. Great stories are perfectly in sync. In this edition, I will cover a couple of stories from the last fortnight that both play the tune of fervent change, one perhaps to greater effect than the other. 

Let’s unpack them. 

The impasse on high seas has ended

Last week, on 4 March, over 190 UN member countries agreed to the first international treaty to protect marine biodiversity and provide oversight of the high seas. The High Seas Treaty has been two decades in the making and there is no doubt that humanity needs the oceans, and that the oceans and the life in them are at huge risk. 

For over two centuries, Earth’s seas have been absorbing one-third of the carbon dioxide generated by humans and 90% of the heat associated with global warming. What have humans done in return? Exploited marine life and minerals; made the oceans 30% more acidic than at the start of the Industrial Revolution; turned the waters hotter and less oxygenated, risking marine ecosystems. Only 3% of the oceans have been left pristine. 

Here’s The Guardian explaining how dire the situation is.