The case for integrated marine science From data overload to actionable insight
For decades, progress in marine science was constrained by what could be observed directly at sea. Surveys were expensive, time- limited and geographically narrow.
Madelaine Hooper Marine Science Lead NSW, GHD
Dr. Justin Meager Technical Director – Aquatic Ecology, GHD
T oday, that constraint has largely disappeared. But it’s been replaced by a new challenge: making sense of the sheer volume of information now being generated about marine environments. Satellites, sensors and monitoring platforms now produce ocean data at unprecedented scale. An estimated 8 exabytes of data are generated each year, yet roughly 80 percent of this data remains unexamined.¹ Research networks are accumulating petabyte-scale archives, prompting Ocean Networks Canada CEO Kate Moran to warn that “there aren’t enough data specialists” to keep pace with the volume.²
At the same time, human activity in the world’s oceans is accelerating. Offshore wind is expanding, ports and defence infrastructure are growing, desalination plants are multiplying and ageing energy assets are entering complex decommissioning phases. Regulatory pressure is rising too: governments have committed to protecting 30 percent of global marine areas by 2030, yet only 8.4 percent is protected today; at the current pace, the world is 83 years from meeting that target.³ Together, these forces are reshaping what marine science must deliver — and how quickly. Meeting that challenge depends less on any single breakthrough than on how effectively existing and emerging tools, methods and expertise are brought together. Nexus Magazine | GHD | 7
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online