ABSTRACT
U nderstanding the oceans This is a time of well-founded concern about the ocean, and how well we understand its processes. Specific problems such as the depletion of fisheries, the effects of marine pollution and the impact of mineral extraction, as well as broader questions such as the role of the ocean in controlling the Earth’s climate, not only pose challenges to scientific understanding but also represent factors that could influence both the lives and livelihoods of many, and potentially alter the earth as we know it. In appreciating what is involved in such issues, let alone what might be done to avoid unwelcome consequences, accurate scientific knowledge of the sea is imperative. This is the province of oceanographers, but it is not only scientists who are concerned about these matters and a wider knowledge of what they are doing should form part of the public debate.
