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| "Guess at it" or Measure It? |
Today's appendices show scientific "tape measure" research data count from 1800-2025 by location and depth (Gulfs, Oceans, Seas, Bays).
This Dredd Blog series has considered research efforts for quite a while (The World According To Measurements, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27).
A recent paper in a scientific journal indicated that scientific efforts in this research domain is wanting:
"Despite the importance of visual observation in the ocean, we have imaged a minuscule fraction of the deep seafloor. Sixty-six percent of the entire planet is deep ocean (≥200 m), and our data show that we have visually observed less than 0.001%, a total area approximately a tenth of the size of Belgium. Data gathered from approximately 44,000 deep-sea dives indicate that we have also seen an incredibly biased sample. Sixty-five percent of all in situ visual seafloor observations in our dataset were within 200 nm of only three countries: the United States, Japan, and New Zealand. Ninety-seven percent of all dives we compiled have been conducted by just five countries: the United States, Japan, New Zealand, France, and Germany. This small and biased sample is problematic when attempting to characterize, understand, and manage a global ocean."
(How little we’ve seen: A visual coverage estimate of the deep seafloor). Another paper shows that it has been this way for quite a while:
"In 1961, American attorney and journalist John F. Kennedy, Jr. told Congress that 'knowledge of the oceans is more than a matter of curiosity. Our very survival may hinge upon it.'
Seven decades later, those words still ring true.
'As we face accelerated threats to the deep ocean – from climate change to potential mining and resource exploitation – this limited exploration of such a vast region becomes a critical problem for both science and policy,' says Bell, founder and President of the Ocean Discovery League.
'We need a much better understanding of the deep ocean's ecosystems and processes to make informed decisions about resource management and conservation.'
Even if we increase our deep-sea explorations by more than a thousand platforms worldwide, Bell and colleagues predict it would take 100,000 years or so to visualize Earth's entire seafloor.
So don't hold your breath."
(We've Only Glimpsed 0.001% of Earth's Deep Seafloor). This failure is inexplicable in the sense that we spend a billion dollars a day in a war to keep ocean-polluting oil flowing in ships on the ocean surface, and that we spend many more billions to consider outer-space instead of our space here.
Which reminds me of a lyric in "Things Have Changed" by Bob Dylan: "I'm trying to get as far away from myself as I can".
The previous post in this series is here.
