The future oceans harbour both potential as well as risks. Humans use their resources, such as fish and shellfish, mineral raw materials and gas hydrates and, not least, genes stemming from marine organisms for medical purposes. However, they also pose a threat to coastal areas through tsunamis, storm tides and rises in sea levels.

 

There are many open questions we need to answer in this area:

• What are the physical, chemical, biological and geological mechanisms that underlie the production of marine resources?
• How can marine resources be exploited sustainably and what are the legal bases required for this?
• Can marine organisms be used as medical models in research into diseases?
• What mechanisms underlie the natural hazards that pose a danger to coastal inhabitants?
• How can natural hazards that originate in the oceans be better assessed and evaluated? What countermeasures can be used to prevent natural disasters?

The task of finding the answers to these questions has been taken on by six junior research groups in the Kiel cluster "The Future Ocean".

Marine resources and risks - Junior research groups

1. B1: Fisheries and Ovefishing
2. B2: Marine Medicine
3. B3: Seafloor Resources
4. B4: Submarine Hazards at Continental Margins
5. B5: Sea-level Rise and Coasts at Risk (2 JRG)
6. B6: Law of the Sea and Marine Resources