The ocean is a way of intercepting intercepts like from the sun, converts this energy briefly into something useful before sending it then off back into the universe. Can you talk about some more specific examples of where these currents are working and how they're interacting on lives? I mean, I'm particularly thinking about what goes on on the west coast of South America, which may be pertinent soon. Yes. Well, so the surface ocean gets heated up so light doesn't travel very far through the ocean. So there shouldn't be any life. The ocean should be dead. But there are places that break this rule, that bring nutrients up to the surface where the sunlight is, and then you
To understand the world you need to understand the ocean. That’s the argument of physicist Helen Czerski who has long studied the complex ecosystems and forces that drive the ‘blue machine’ which covers 71% of our planet. Czerski joins Intelligence Squared to discuss her new book Blue Machine: How the Ocean Shapes Our World, and what we should know about these vast bodies of water – the waves, currents, invisible ocean walls and underwater waterfalls that are part of an interlinked system that shapes the world around us. In conversation with science editor of The Times Tom Whipple, Czerski discusses how, since the beginning of human civilisation, the oceans have been central to the way human societies have evolved and how threats like climate change and overfishing could threaten our future.
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