Science & technology | Exploring the blue planet

Much of the Earth remains unexplored

A new ocean census aims to change that

File - IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR OCEAN CENSUS - Scientists using deep sea submersibles examine the health of coral reefs off the coast of the Maldives in September 2022 as part of a science mission to map, sample and gather data on ocean health which can inform policy makers both in the Maldives and beyond to understand more about what lives in the global ocean and how impacted it is by increased carbon emissions and overfishing. Scientists project coral reefs to decline by a further 70% to 90% by 2030 if global warming reaches1.5 degrees.The broader effort to figure out what is living in the ocean at speed and at scale has been boosted with the announcement by the Nippon Foundation - which works to solve global issues through social innovation-and Nekton - a UK research institute - of the largest programme in history to discover new marine life. The goal of scientists on the programme is to find 100,000 new species in a decade - five times the average annual rate, a figure which has changed little since the mid-1800s. The fear is that entire populations of undiscovered marine life could be lost if the speed of discovery is not significantly accelerated. HANDOUT IMAGE - Please see special instructions. MANDATORY CREDIT - "courtesy of Ocean Census". Press release and media available to download at www.apmultimedianewsroom.com/oceancensus. (Ocean Census via AP Images)
Image: AP

“Earth” has always been an odd choice of name for the third planet from the Sun. After all, an alien examining it through a telescope would note that two-thirds of its surface is covered not by earth at all, but by oceans of water.

This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “What lies beneath”

Science & technology May 6th 2023

From the May 6th 2023 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition
Reuse this content

More from Science & technology

A person blowing about a pattern in the shape of a brain

Can you breathe stress away?

Scientists are only beginning to understand the links between the breath and the mind

The Economist’s science and technology internship

We invite applications for the 2025 Richard Casement internship

A man sits inside a pixelated pink brain while examining a clipboard, with colored squares falling from the brain

A better understanding of Huntington’s disease brings hope

Previous research seems to have misinterpreted what is going on

Is obesity a disease?

It wasn’t. But it is now

Volunteers with Down’s syndrome could help find Alzheimer’s drugs

Those with the syndrome have more of a protein implicated in dementia

Should you start lifting weights?

You’ll stay healthier for longer if you’re strong