In the last 12,000 years, while humans were busy replacing the terrestrial ecosystems with agriculture and infrastructure, the oceans had a reprieve due to their inaccessibility. Only since the 19th century did the oceans begin to suffer the consequences of humanity's world domination, beginning with industrial scale whaling and not ending with climate change killing off coral reefs and the rush towards deep-sea mining endangering even the remoter parts of the sea floor.
This could make for a rather depressing story of a paradise lost, but with their book At every depths, Tessa Hill and Eric Simons manage to make it more interesting by emphasising the things we are only beginning to understand and also the traditional knowledge of coastal and seafaring populations that has been ignored by modern science and almost been forgotten. This angle, covering things like the clam gardens of Hawaii and the long-distance journeys of the polynesian voyagers who settled everything from New Zealand to Hawaii, makes for the most surprising and fascinating stories here.
More about all this in my essay review which is out now:
Exploration vs exploitation
Chemistry & Industry Volume 88, Issue 7-8, July/August 2024, Page 34
access via:
Wiley Online Library (paywalled PDF of the whole review section)
SCI (premium content, ie members only)
As always, I'm happy to send a PDF on request.
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