The Climate Question What does the ocean do for us and the planet?
Dec 7, 2025
Helen Czerski, an oceanographer and physicist at University College London, shares fascinating insights about the ocean's critical role in climate and civilization in this conversation. She discusses her adventures collecting data during tumultuous storms, revealing the challenges of conducting research at sea. Helen defines the ocean as a 'blue machine' that regulates weather and climate while supporting food systems. She highlights how the ocean absorbs heat and carbon, illustrating its vital part in buffering climate change and the intricate interconnectedness of ecosystems.
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Storms, Ships And One-Shot Experiments
- Helen Czerski describes deploying instruments over the side of a research ship into enormous storms and hoping they keep transmitting.
- She stresses the nervousness because field experiments are one-shot opportunities with no immediate replacements.
Ocean As A Dynamic Engine
- The ocean is an active, dynamic engine that moves heat, nutrients and water around the planet.
- Helen argues maps' blue filler view misses that the ocean's circulation directly shapes life and weather on land.
Ancient Egypt Depends On Distant Oceans
- Helen uses ancient Egypt to show how ocean-driven weather created the Nile inundation that enabled their civilisation.
- She highlights that people like Tutankhamen may never have seen the ocean yet depended on ocean-fed rains upstream.
