February 9, 2022 –A healthy sea determines the planet’s balance and, in turn, the health and well-being of its people. That is why ocean science has never played a more vital role, helping us to grasp today’s deterioration of the world’s biggest ecosystem – and find solutions.

As scientists, public and private stakeholders and heads of state prepare to share diagnoses and cures for improving the “patient’s” condition at the One Ocean Summit in Brest, France, from 9 to 11 February 2022, Ifremer, the French oceanographic institute invited to the talks, looks at some of the more promising avenues for research.

Mare incognitum

Our home is called Earth, but the name does not fully reflect the reality of a planet where liquid predominates: dry land takes up just under 30% of the globe’s surface, while the sea covers the remaining 70%.

The ocean is the world’s biggest ecosystem, yet it remains a huge mystery, a mare incognitum. The abyssal zone alone is thought to house up to a million species scientists have yet to document, showing how much we need science to lift the veil on a world that remains an enigma but whose crucial role in determining the health of our planet and its life forms is, in contrast, no longer a mystery.

Read the full story at The Conversation