Available online
Description
This programme examines future trends in climatic change, problems of dealing with pollution in the oceans, finding new marine food sources for man and some personal views on the future of marine science.
This programme examines future trends in climatic change, problems of dealing with pollution in the oceans, finding new marine food sources for man and some personal views on the future of marine science.
| Module code and title: | S334, Oceanography |
|---|---|
| Item code: | S334; 16 |
| First transmission date: | 11-10-1978 |
| Published: | 1978 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:24:00 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | P. L Firstbrook |
| Contributors: | Edward Bullard; Jim Hays |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Blue whiting; Climate change; Earth rotation; Ice ages; Manganese nodules; Marine pollution; Microfossils; Milankovich cycles; Ocean mineral resources; U.N. Conference |
| Footage description: | Sir Edward Builard, outside his home in Southern California, introduces the programme. Jim Hays recalls the extent of glaciation during the last great Ice Age. Animation of the earth showing the arctic ice cap as it was during the Ice Age and how it has receded to the present day. Hays goes on to discuss what evidence there is for past changes in climate such as the Ice Ages. Still shots of microfossils as he talks. Also an animated diagram showing the earth's rotation about the Sun and also the wobble about its own axis. Graphs show the extent of climatic change over the past 700,000, 40,000, and 21,000 years. Hays points out that future changes in climate may be predicted from this data. Sir Edward Bullard discusses the effects, on the atmosphere and the oceans, of a CO2 build up due to burning of fossil fuels. He points out that the oceans turn out to be unexpectedly good buffers against changes in atmospheric CO2. Bullard introduces Willard Bascom. Willard Bascom, standing on a beach in Southern California, discusses the effect of manmade pollution on the world's deep oceans. He concludes that the effects is negligible. Over film of pollution on Mediterranean beaches and an animated map, Bullard discusses the problem of pollution in shallow enclosed seas. Film shots of a chemical plant which discharges wastes into the Mediterranean. Bascom and Bullard discuss the problem of how to decide what needs to be done to manage the seas and their resources and who should make these decisions. Film of a Geneva Conference of the Sea and of the Houses of Parliament, London. Gavin Moncrieff, an executive with Consolidated Gold Fields, discusses the possibility of manganese nodule mining from the deep ocean floor. He lists the problems involved in making this type of mining a commercial proposition. Film shots of exploration ships at sea, underwater shots showing nodules on the sea floor, diagram and film of a nodule collector. Film of a trawler putting to sea. An animated cartoon shows the food chain from plankton to fish used as food by man. Shots of fish being cleaned. Commentary points out that as stocks of traditional food fish are depleted, other species may find a place on man's menu. James Keay picks up and examines several species of fish not eaten by British consumers at the moment but which are good to eat and could find their way onto the market place. Shots of gurnard, monk fish, squid, dogfish and catfish. Hays goes on to discuss the blue whiting - a promising possible replacement for cod. Shots of whiting being hauled aboard a trawler and of the fish being processes in a factory. John Isaacs speculates on possible future developments in the marine sciences. Film of a trawler at sea during part of his talk. |
| Master spool number: | 6HT/72789 |
| Production number: | 00525_1308 |
| Videofinder number: | 885 |
| Available to public: | no |
