Short Interview with Prof. Dr. Martin Visbeck, GEOMAR, on Maritime Solutions
At GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, you also study the role of the ocean in climate change. Do the oceans receive enough attention in climate research?
Even though the ocean covers two-thirds of the Earth's surface, has absorbed 90 percent of the excess heat energy, and rising sea levels pose an extremely complex challenge for the future, the ocean is often a marginal topic in climate research. There are several reasons for this: 1) Humans live on land and focus primarily on the atmosphere. Measuring the ocean requires greater effort, and compared to other components of the Earth system, it is less well understood. However, I, along with many others, use every opportunity to highlight the role of the ocean in climate change and advocate for more attention, research, and knowledge exchange across all aspects of marine science.
The so-called Blue Economy aims to protect the Earth's ecosystem by bringing new technologies and solutions to the market. In which technologies do you see the greatest potential to advance ocean protection?
From my perspective, the Blue Economy encompasses all economic sectors related to the ocean, including tourism, maritime trade, fisheries, oil and gas extraction, and other forms of resource exploitation. If we want to make the Blue Economy more sustainable, we need to focus on mitigating the negative impacts of these industries, primarily overexploitation and pollution. A sustainable Blue Economy seeks to balance protection and utilization wisely. This requires both economic stakeholders and policymakers to define and implement clear regulatory frameworks through marine spatial planning. A powerful ocean observation system is essential for this, along with improved simulations and ocean models that can be integrated into digital twins of the ocean. Digital twins can help develop and optimize frameworks for both ocean use and conservation in a sustainable way.
Within each sector, technology can help optimize usage and minimize pollution or other undesirable side effects. The range of solutions includes smart fishing methods, low-emission propulsion systems, noise reduction technologies, and safer drilling and extraction systems.
Finally, what insights did you gain from your discussion panel and your visit to INTERGEO as a technology showcase for geodata-driven sustainability solutions?
The discussion highlighted that we have not yet fully exploited the potential of networking between science, business, and administration. It is a complex and highly multidimensional field where no simple solutions exist. However, the use of geospatial data can significantly improve many aspects of ocean management and sustainability.
Professor Visbeck, thank you for your time.
