| OK, to conclude my talk, I'm going to ask a couple of questions. First, what is the purpose of this deep sea exploration and second, is it worth the expense? I think one of the justifications for spending so much money on this kind of research is that it allows scientists to understand more about the surface of the earth. for example how it was formed and how it behaves. This could have important consequences for predicting earthquakes and saving lives through early warning systems. Another reason this type of research is considered valuable is that by exploring unknown parts of the ocean we increase our knowledge of the availability of minerals for industry. And, obviously, this could lead to huge commercial advantages. So the answer is, yes. In the long run this kind of exploration can benefit both the ordinary population and industry. |
