/sci/ - Science & Math

God tier: Arctic exploration

Okay tier: Space exploration

Shit tier: Ocean exploration

>>1962336

>> One question: are you concerned with the current state of the ocean ecosystems as far as pollution and overfishing are concerned?

Yeah, to some degree.

>>Or do you see resources as a tool for mankind to use to aid this triumph?

This, mostly.

>>It seems to me that we if we venture into the oceans now, we risk rendering them worse off than before because of our habits of waste and insustainability.

Possibly. But development of the sea is different from development on land. Mainly because any submersible you use is going to be some type of electric vehicle (another interest of mine) which means it doesn't pollute sea water. And the isolated nature of an undersea structure means the use of solar, wind and hydrothermal is necessary, all very "green" sources of power.

Deep sea mining has the potential to be damaging, but the Aquarius, during it's observation of the oil spill, noted no ill effect on the reefs. We don't know much about how sea life would react to deep sea mining. Most of the stuff we'd be removing is already exposed to the seawater, and aren't especially toxic. And it's in regions of the sea that are largely lifeless anyway.

The greatest threat to the sea is increasing acidification and overfishing. The first is the result of surface industries, and we're working on reducing the pollution from those already. The second is a legitimate concern, but in the same way that over-hunting and over-harvesting was prior to the invention of agriculture. That's the longterm solution to overfishing; seafloor farming. Do down there what we've been doing up here for thousands of years.

Pictured; geodesic sphere arctic habitat. I sold my dad on the idea of a geodesic dome about a year ago, I'll be helping him build one pretty soon. Big admirer of Buckminster Fuller, looking forward to the project a lot.