Almost a quarter of the ocean floor is now mapped

Seabed 2030 has mapped 25% of the Earth's sea floor. The project is part of a larger UN-led initiative called The Ocean Decade. Researchers say that it will be possible to map all of the ocean floor by the year 2030. In the past year alone, Seabed has added around 3.8 million square miles through newly opened archives.

Scientists think collecting more bathymetric data will help understand climate change. Ocean floor mapping can be used to detect natural disasters. A complete map of the ocean floor is the missing tool that will allow us to tackle some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time. The executive director of The Nippon Foundation stated in a press release that it will enable them to safeguard the planet's future.

The data used in Seabed was already there. Some of the entities that contribute to the group are still reluctant to open up their archives for fear of spilling national or trade secrets.

The public will be able to see the data that Seabed is collecting on the GEBCO. Prior to Seabed, public use of ocean floor data was very limited. Satellite altimeters give a rough idea of the sea floor's shape. Some scientists think a global effort to locate the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight would have been better informed by newer, more precise methods.