The earth's surface holds an estimated 1.4 trillion liters of water, but only 0.01% of that amount is suitable for human use. Yet every year that usable water becomes more and more polluted and water shortages are mounting. We will soon have to look at ways of harnessing ocean water. Unsurprisingly, since all life originated in the sea, the balance of minerals in the fluids of the human body correlates strongly with the concentration in the oceans. The sea, as the mother of all life, holds enormous significance for human health.

The synthetic detergent in windshield-washer fluid of automobiles dissolves the asphalt in asphalt pavement and, along with organic factors like diesel exhaust particulate and tire waste, are identified as possible contributors to global marine pollution and local climate change.

In March 2003, the Uraga Shipyard of Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd.'s Yokosuka Plant, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, shut its gates after 105 years of continuous operation. A variety of schemes has been proposed to find a new use for the docks, which were founded in 1897, and the Yokosuka City Policy Commission asked its residents to submit proposals in the spirit of building a better city. The Commission's plan is decided soon. In this paper, I introduce the proposal that the shipyard facilities be preserved as they are, as a hands-on, open-air museum, and some of the efforts now under way to establish this museum.