David Abulafia David Abulafia

Our future life on Earth depends on the state of the ocean

As the world’s thermometer, the ocean keeps everything in balance, but our actions are threatening its life, says Helen Czerski

Although we divide the ocean into several different ones, it is ultimately – as the ancient Greeks insisted –one big connected Okeanos. [Alamy] 
issue 27 May 2023

When we observe the ocean we rarely peek beneath its surface. As Helen Czerski shows in her lively and engrossing account of the physics of ocean spaces, we would not see much anyway. Sounds travel well in water, and blue whales talk to one another across thousands of miles; but light soon disappears, apart from the glow emitted by luminous fish.

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