Bermuda Post

Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

There Are Five Oceans on Earth Now, National Geographic Says

There Are Five Oceans on Earth Now, National Geographic Says

Six continents, four oceans… that’s what we all know from school and easy quiz questions, but some say there are five bodies of water on Earth. Will people happily accept this or will there be some backlash, like when Pluto was downgraded from a planet to a dwarf planet in 2006.

The National Geographic Society says it's time to recognise that there are five oceans on our planet.

The Southern Ocean, a body of icy water encircling Antarctica, will now officially join the Arctic, Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans on the maps made by the society – although the move is not recognised by everyone.

The decision was made in the wake of World Oceans Day celebrations on 8 June to reflect on what scientists, explorers, and geographers suspected for a long time – the waters around Antarctica are unique and cannot simply be thought of as extensions of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans.


“The Southern Ocean has long been recognised by scientists, but because there was never agreement internationally, we never officially recognised it,” says National Geographic Society Geographer Alex Tait, who is tasked with keeping the Map Policy up-to-date.

Tait says that the society, which has been making maps since 1915, “always labelled it” but “slightly differently” than other oceans.

“This change was taking the last step and saying we want to recognise it because of its ecological separation,” the geographer says.

Defined by Current, Not Continents


Scientists are confident that the waters around Antarctica “form a distinct ecological region” which are defined by their unique Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). Inside the current waters are colder and less salty, they say. The dense waters also help store carbon deep in the ocean, playing a huge role in how our planet’s climate and global circulation system work.

“Anyone who has been there will struggle to explain what's so mesmerising about it, but they'll all agree that the glaciers are bluer, the air colder, the mountains more intimidating, and the landscapes more captivating than anywhere else you can go,” says Seth Sykora-Bodie, a National Geographic explorer and marine scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).


The National Geographic admits they have decided to update its list of oceans “without an official determination” from the International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO), an intergovernmental body that has been working with the UN to chart waters worldwide. The IHO simply couldn’t agree on the extent of this fifth ocean region and its name (although they did recognise the Southern Ocean in 1937 only to backtrack on this decision 16 years later).

Meanwhile, the US Board on Geographic Names has used the designation since 1999, and the NOAA recognised the Southern Ocean this February.

Peculiarly enough, the change has already been reflected in Google Maps – although it seems that this has been going on for several years now, according to many surprised social media users.




Tait, who has been long pushing for the change, as he heard researchers and the media increasingly referring for the term Southern Ocean, is delighted: “It’s sort of geographic nerdiness in some ways,” he says.

If the alteration is finally recognised by everyone (although it’s not clear who has to make the final call), those compiling textbooks, maps, school and university programmes will have a lot of work to do.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Bermuda Post
0:00
0:00
Close
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Israel: Unprecedented Civil Disobedience Looms as IDF Reservists Protest Judiciary Reform
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
'I just lost it' Lowe’s worker fired after 13 years of employment for confronting thieves trying to steal $2K of merchandise
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Italian Court's Controversial Ruling on Sexual Harassment Ignites Uproar
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
×