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As Mitsuyuki Unno, the CEO of The Nippon Foundation, emphasized at the second United Nations Ocean Conference: A comprehensive ocean map is a vital tool to address urgent environmental issues such as climate change, marine pollution, and the challenges posed by Mother Nature, such as tsunamis and other natural hazards.Approximately 25% (precisely 23.4%) of the ocean floor has been successfully mapped thanks to the international Seabed 2030 project. The goal of this initiative is to map the entire ocean floor within the next 8 years, contributing to the broader United Nations-led initiative, The Ocean Decade.
In just the past year, Seabed 2030 has expanded its dataset by approximately 9.8 million square kilometers (equivalent to the size of Europe). All the data collected by Seabed 2030 will be publicly available online on the global network gebco.net. While most of the data is sourced from available government, company, and research provider outlets, some information is still not fully disclosed for the preservation of trade secrets and national security. Before the Seabed 2030 project, there were very few publicly used ocean data.
Seabed 2030 researchers aim to map 100% of the ocean floor by 2030, believing this is achievable through technological advances and integrated existing data. Additionally, collecting data from depth survey research will contribute to a better understanding of climate change and increase awareness for ocean protection.According to Engadget
