Sudipta Kumar De - Oceans and the Future of the Human Race

OCEANS

and the Future of the Human Race

and the Future of the Human Race

Sudipta Kumar De

Author

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The views and opinions expressed in this book are author(s) own and the facts reported by them have been verified to the extent possible, and the publishers are not in any way liable for the same.

ISBN: 978-93-8022-287-5

First Published, 2016

Published by

Gennext Publications

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Cataloging in Publication DataDK

Courtesy: D.K. Agencies (P) Ltd.

De, Sudipta Kumar, author.

Oceans and the future of the human race / Sudipta Kumar De.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 9789380222875

1. Oceanography. 2. Underwater exploration. I. Title.

GC11.2.D47 2016 DDC 551.46 23

How inappropriate to call this planet

Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean.

Arthur C. Clarke

Conflict of interest statement

In writing this book I am acutely conscious that my purpose and perspective might very easily be misunderstood. Therefore, I would like to confirm to the scientifically-minded readers that my research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships, or gains, or motivations that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. This book is a pure academic piece of work solely intended to promote the progress of Ocean Science by building strong public awareness.

CHAPTER 1
A Brief History of the Oceanography and Ocean Exploration

CHAPTER 2
Oceans A Vast Reservoir of Food

CHAPTER 3
Oceans Mother Natures Medicine Cabinet

CHAPTER 4
Fishing, Shark, Whale and Seal Hunting

CHAPTER 5
Oceans Can Solve Our Freshwater Crisis

CHAPTER 6
Mineral Extraction from Deep Ocean Floor

CHAPTER 7
Ocean Energy Harnessing the Power of the Sea

CHAPTER 8
Human Impacts on Oceans

CHAPTER 9
Coastal Zone Management

CHAPTER 10
Antarctica The New Frontier at the End of the Earth

CHAPTER 11
Final Conclusion: from Concept to Reality

We know more about the surface of the Moon and about Mars than we do about the deep seafloor, despite the fact that we have yet to extract a gram of food, a breath of oxygen or a drop of water from those bodies .

Paul Snelgrove, Oceanographer

We enjoy the beauty of the ocean and the bounty of its waters. Most of us feel an emotional tie to the oceans, and breathe a sigh of relief or relaxation as soon as we set our eyes upon the deep blue wilderness (the ocean appears blue because it reflects the blue colour of the sky; on a cloudy, gray day, it appears gray), a feeling of coming home. But often we dont understand the importance of the oceans and the marine environments to the health of the Planet Earth. The scale of the oceans is unimaginable from our land-based perspective. Our planet is really an ocean planet, and the oceans touch the lives of billions of people in countless ways. This is both a fact and a challenge that the oceans are our common heritage and our common future. Life on land exists in this thin layer that begins a few feet below the surface of the soil and extends up into the tops of the trees. But in the ocean, life is found all the way from the surface to the very bottom of the deepest part.

Even with all the technology that we have today satellites, buoys, underwater vehicles and ship tracks we have better maps of the surface of Mars and dark side of the Moon than we do of the bottom of the oceans. While a dozen people have walked on the Moon 238,855 miles (384,400 km) above the earths surface, only three have descended and returned from the deepest part in the sea, just seven miles (11 km) below our realm. We know very, very little about most of the ocean the inner space. This is especially true for the middle and deeper parts far away from the coasts. To say that the deep-sea is undersampled is an understatement. Given that the oceans occupy about 71 per cent of the earths surface, with continental shelves (the area from the coastline where water depth is 200 meters or less) accounting for only about 7.5 per cent, the deep-sea then makes up about 63.5 per cent of the earths surface. And, because only a small fraction of the deep-sea bottom has been sampled, this leaves over 60 per cent of the earth waiting to be explored! Till this day, each drop of water taken from the ocean will contain microbial species yet unknown to humans in a 9:1 ratio.

Till the middle of last century the most common way to sample the ocean was to drag a net through the water and see what was caught. Or the researchers could lower some bottles over the side and pull the water up to see what it contained. This vast watery desert is really a hard place to work. In many ways, its easier to put a person into space than it is to send a person down to the bottom of the ocean. For one thing, the pressure exerted by the water above is enormous. Its the equivalent of one person trying to support 50 jumbo jets at the deepest point in the ocean. Its also dark and cold. Unlike space where we can see forever, once were down in the ocean we cant see anything because our light cant shine very far. Its a challenging place to study. Therefore, despite a dramatic increase in exploration in recent decades there are still a lot of unanswered questions.

The oceans and interconnecting seas form a continuous territory that covers about three-fourths of the earths surface. Within this realm, we have sources of minerals and energy that are largely untapped. Even with the modern technology in hand we have hardly been able to touch an infinitesimal part of this realm. Our ability is so poor that even the continental shelf still remains almost a virgin territory, greater in area than the moon, to those people who want to explore it. The only reason is our incomplete knowledge and ignorance about the oceans and of course the initial expenditure associated to any offshore exploration.

The world has a great need to find new resources. If we ask a question, what is the biggest challenge the humankind will face in the future, the most usual reply would be nutrition. How to feed the present generation people and those yet unborn? In 1950, five years after the founding of the United Nations, world population was estimated at around 2.6 billion people. It reached five billion on July 11, 1987; hit six billion on October 12, 1999, and on October 31, 2011 touched seven billion. During the twentieth century alone, the population has grown from 1.65 billion to six billion, and it is still growing at a tremendous rate. The human population is projected to reach 9.5 billion by 2050, which is within estimates of the maximum carrying capacity of the planet. A fundamental question for science is whether it is possible to increase food production to meet the demands of a human population of that magnitude. There is little room for optimism. Available water resources appear insufficient for agriculture to meet the food demands of 9.5 billion people. In addition, global fisheries landings have been declining since the mid-1980s, contributing to the current food production crisis. It is true that presently world is producing enough food to feed almost everyone, but due to unwise use of fertilizers many good agricultural lands are becoming less productive. Soil erosion and salting are common results of ill-advised farming and improper irrigation. Also, we have expansion of urban and industrial land. Hence, productivity is lessened or even wiped out completely. At current yields, crop and grazing areas will have to increase by 50 to 70 per cent to produce the food required to feed the projected human population in 2050. Yet crop area declined from 0.5 to 0.25 hectares (ha) per capita between 1960 and 2000 caused by soil erosion, salinisation, and the expansion of urban and industrial land.