VOYAGE TO THE DEEP BLUE SEA

 

“How inappropriate to call this planet Earth when it is clearly Ocean.” Arthur C. Clarke

 

Recently, I needed a diversion to escape the unrelenting noise of pundits trying to explain the election results and its aftermath. Half of the country is predicting the end of democracy and the other half praising the return to a better populist America. I decided to remain silent and let the future unfold.

The corner of my desk was piled high with books I had been reading during the campaign. These political and historical studies defining authoritarianism and defending democracy needed to be temporarily packed away. Following the Inauguration, when the former president returns to action with his wrecking ball there will be plenty of time for comment.

A friend suggested I take up the word puzzle, Wordle, as a healthy alternative. I discovered that, unlike my spouse and many others, my knowledge of five-letter words was limited. Also, my patience for word games was slim.

Instead, I turned to a book that the Financial Times has called one of the best science studies of 2023, The Blue Machine: How the Ocean Works by Helen Czerski. The author is a physicist and oceanographer at University College London. Her writing skills were sharpened as a science columnist for the Wall Street Journal.

Generally speaking, we humans spend most of our days surrounded by land. It is easy to forget that the ocean covers 71 percent of the Earth's surface and contains 96.5 percent of the planet's water. When we check the local weather or air quality, we are not thinking that the ocean regulates climate and is the planet’s greatest source of oxygen.

When we visit a zoo or marvel at the wildlife that surrounds us, we are not remembering that the ocean is home to a more diverse variety of life from microscopic organisms to the 100-foot-long blue whale. When we gaze at the night sky in wonderment, it is hard to believe that humans have explored only 5 percent of the ocean. Many of the species that live there have not been discovered.

The Blue Machine is an excellent book for those looking to escape the emotional impact of the election. It provides an invigorating ocean voyage while explaining how the vast expanses of saltwater operate as “the engine for the earth.”  The physics behind the ocean’s systems are more complex and interdependent than one could imagine.

In the book’s introduction Czerski sets us up for what we are about to read: “This isn’t merely a diverting tale about some salty water. This is the story that defines planet Earth.”

The author uses stories of history, culture, and sea animals to present her scientific points. She explains how water temperatures, salt water, gravity, and even the movement of the Earth’s tectonic plates all interact to keep our planet and its oceans intact. The book is replete with helpful diagrams and illustrations.

I agree with other reviewers that Czerski not only explains how things work, she does so with “poetic awe” that captures the wonder and beauty of the ocean. For example, we know that the ocean intercepts incoming energy from space and prevents it from escaping. Czerski’s eloquent explanation is: “The Earth is just a cascade of diversions, unable to stop the flood of energy but tapping into it as it trickles past. The ocean is an engine for converting sunlight into movement and life and complexity, before the universe reclaims the loan.” Who needs to dwell on Trump’s madcap cabinet choices with prose like that.

The book introduces the reader to the unseen, interlinked systems of currents, ocean walls, and underwater waterfalls that define the ocean. Gaining some basic understanding on what is going on in seven tenths of the planet that is not covered in land was an eye opening and humbling experience.

The last section of the book gives the reader some discouraging news to consider. It is not a topic the author wanted to dwell on. She laments, “I wish so much that I could have written an ocean book that ended with pure celebration…with nothing but a positive exciting future to look forward to.”  Czerski then lists all the events that threaten the ocean.

First, climate change is causing ocean temperatures to rise with alarming speed. Second, billions of pounds of plastics, micro-plastics and nano-plastics, smaller than the dust particles we breathe, are washing into the oceans. The plastics are affecting aquatic species in ways scientists are only now beginning to grasp. Third, excess carbon dioxide we send into the atmosphere is absorbed by seawater. This lowers the ocean’s Ph and impedes the growth of corals and shellfish. Fourth, excessive nutrient runoff, algae, and higher temperatures cause oxygen deprived patches of water. These “dead zones” now cover millions of square miles of ocean. Fifth, the “Atlantic Meridonal Overturning Current” is shifting to potentially catastrophic patterns due to the introduction of meltwater from Greenland’s glaciers and Arctic ice. Lastly, government subsidized and illegal fishing have caused an extreme decline of fish populations worldwide.

While it is tempting to ignore the ocean as “nearly infinite and incorruptible,” it is time we wake up and understand the realities of living on a planet with limits. What this book taught me is that we need to fully understand how the ocean works before we can save it.