Relevance of Oceanography

Term Paper # 116139

Economics
Environmental Studies
Geology and Geophysics > Oceanography

This paper examines the relevance of the study of oceanography in addressing contemporary societal, economic, political and natural hazard problems.

1,501 words () | 4 sources | MLA | 2009 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper explores how oceanography affects the sectors of contemporary societal issues, economic problems, and political and natural problems. The paper addresses these sectors as interrelated aspects of the same system, as opposed to independent forces or phenomena. The paper also discusses the rapid increases in human population as a significant societal issue to which oceanography is relevant and then looks at the topic of offshore drilling that has both economic considerations and governmental political implications. The paper attempts to demonstrate how oceanography is a complex and multi-tiered science that is relevant today.

From the Paper:

"Oceanography is an astonishingly vast science. It is actually made up of many essential sciences that illustrate the relevance of oceanography to the areas of society issues, economic problems, and political and natural hazards. It is comprised of four fundamental sections including Biological Oceanography, which addresses environmental impacts, fisheries/aquaculture, and marine biology. The second section is Chemical Oceanography, which addresses the environment and pollution. The third is Geological Oceanography, which includes hydrography, geo-sciences, glaciers/ice/snow, hazards, and study of the paleoenvironment. The fourth and most well known is Physical Oceanography, which studies acoustics, atmosphere, circulation/physics, climate, meteorology, modeling, operational & observing systems, and optics."

Sample of Sources Used:

"Assessing the Status of International Waters." Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin. Volume 10, September 2001: http://www.unep.org/dewa/giwa/publications/articles/aslo/aslo_bulletin.pdf
Bigelow, Bryant Bigelow. Oceanography its scope, problems, and economic importance. Boston ; New York : Houghton Mifflin Co., 1931
"Grand Changes in Environmental Sciences." 2003: http://ioc.unesco.org/Oceanteacher/OceanTeacher2/01_GlobOcToday/EnvirGrandChallenges.pdf
"The Oceans." 2007: http://ioc.unesco.org/Oceanteacher/OceanTeacher2/01_GlobOcToday/01_SciOc/chapt-31.pdf