Oceans 2025
This site contains limited information. For a more in-depth account, visit NERC's Oceans 2025 website.
Covering over three-quarters of the Earth's surface, oceans play a crucial role in regulating the global climate and are an important source of food, energy and other raw materials.
However, we live on a rapidly changing planet. By 2025 - just one generation away - human activities are expected to have had a major impact on the oceans, which could affect millions of people across the world. For example, scientists predict that global warming will cause the Arctic sea-ice extent to decrease by about 30 percent which will radically change marine ecosystems and possibly ocean movements. During the same time, our demand for natural resources is likely to have increased by at least a third.
With these pressing concerns, it is more crucial than ever that we sustainably manage the marine environment and for this to happen, we need to improve our knowledge of ocean processes.
Oceans 2025, will address some of the most fundamental issues in marine science and will be critical in developing sustainable solutions to manage marine resources for future generations.
Starting in 2007, the five-year programme has been implemented through NERC's seven leading UK marine centres, with cooperation and input from other government agencies and departments.
About the programme