More than 99% of the deep sea remains a mystery

TThe Trump administration signed an executive decree at the end of last month, aimed at accelerating the approval of critical minerals in the maritime exploitation of the seabed found in the deep sea. This decision was faced with international conviction, in particular experts who say that more research must be carried out in the impacts that practice could have on deep sea ecosystems, the majority of which remains unexplored.

A new study published today in Scientific advances Show how little we know on the deep sea. According to research, humans have observed less than 0.001% of the bottom of the sea – an area about the size of the Rhode Island.

The deep sea refers to the part of the ocean below 200 meters (656 feet), during which light begins to disappear. Although it represents more than 90% of the marine environment of the land, a large part of ecosystems on the high seas is always a question mark for researchers.

But the area is essential to maintain our climate – by abusing approximately 90% of excess heat and around 30% of carbon dioxide which has been released in the atmosphere by human activities. “If all of this had remained in the atmosphere, it would make life on earth practically impossible,” explains Katy Croff Bell, president of Ocean Discovery League, National Geographic Explorer, and the main author of the study.

Find out more: What to know about Trump's push to stimulate the exploitation of the deep sea

The area that humans have explored is largely limited and highly biased towards certain regions. More than 65% of visual observations have occurred at less than 200 marine miles from three countries: the United States, Japan and New Zealand, which means that a large part of our hypotheses on the deep sea is based on a tiny sample size.

“It is as if we were to do all the hypotheses on terrestrial ecosystems based on observations of 0.001% of the area, which would be smaller than the area of ​​Houston, Texas,” explains Bell.

To determine the amount of seabed we have explored, the team has drawn data from around 44,000 deep dives with observations carried out since 1958. The 0.001% also includes hypotheses on the number of private diving files which are not publicly recorded.

Find out more: A climatic solution is deeply under the ocean, but access could have enormous environmental costs

Because so little is known to this ecosystem, many experts fear that exploitation on the high seas can pay too much risk for the environment. Thirty -two countries have called for a moratorium on practice, and Bell hopes that the study shows the need for additional research before countries are starting to extract – and potentially irreparable – mine practices in the deep sea.