UPDATE 1/11: This program is POSTPONED due to unforeseen circumstances.

On Thursday, January 11, the Local and Global Discussion Group of the Weston Council on Aging will welcome Dr. Alan Rice, who will lead an exploration of the Seabed 2030 Project, which aims to map the entire ocean floor by the end of the decade. The seas cover 70% of the earth’s surface. Yet we know about only 20% of the ocean floor, while we know just about everything about the surface of Mars.

Earlier attempts at mapping the ocean floor made tremendous strides in understanding the geology of the earth and its ongoing evolution. This has assisted in defining earthquake hazards, volcanic eruptions, the nature of currents as affected by seafloor topography, understanding the distribution of organisms that live on the ocean floor, the potential for mineral resources, locating airplanes that have disappeared into the ocean, etc. The list is long and Seabed 2030 may result in even more discoveries.

Seabed 2030 is a global organization with partners in industry, government, research, philanthropy and NGOs. Seabed 2030 is crowdsourcing commercial shipping, which would make soundings with underwater echosounders while they are underway. Dr. Rice is pushing for the incorporation of large sailing vessels in this undertaking because they are quiet and forced to travel outside the normal shipping lanes because they depend on wind and currents and hence cover ground away from heavily trafficked regions.

Dr, Rice has worked for many years as an oceanographer and taught university courses on the subject, which allows him to understand the importance of Seabed 2030. You can learn more about Seabed 2030 at their website here.

You are invited to join this important discussion starting at 1:15 pm on Thursday, January 11 in the Gathering Room of the Weston Council on Aging. You may also participate via Zoom. Please contact the COA at 781-786-6280 or westoncoa@westonma.gov to request a link.

Questions? Comments? Contact Susan Wagner at 508-733-8810 or susanwgnr@gmail.com.