Photo Essay: Lamont-Doherty Explores Oceans From Pole to Pole

(Note: This post was revised on July 18, 2012) The slide show below features some of the ongoing research by scientists at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, part of the Earth Institute, whose work is key to understanding past changes in the oceans and what is going on today. As the photos below illustrate, Lamont-Doherty researchers do pioneering work all over the globe in many areas, including studies of climate change, ice, earthquakes, sea-level rise, water chemistry and more. With their vast resources and raw materials, the world's oceans are one of the cornerstones of the quality of human life. According to World Bank figures, 350 million jobs are estimated to be linked to the oceans globally, and 1 billion people in developing countries depend on fish for their primary source of protein. However, the oceans are increasingly endangered by unfettered exploitation and ecological damage from overfishing, noise, pollution, and acidification. Only 2 percent of the oceans are protected areas. Ninety percent of big predators are gone.